By Forest Puha
It’s been a long,
eventful, tragic, harrowing, and beautiful year for many people
across the world. Natural and man-made disasters have touched every
country; whether environmental, financial, military or any other way,
the chaos is real. The climate is changing, the days are warmer and
the weather is crazier than we’re used to. People are losing their
homes and living on the streets or as nomads in record rates. Animals
of all kinds are becoming endangered and extinct. Prices keep going
up. Outside relief is unlikely to happen quick enough or largely
enough for people to feel calm again.
My family and I
celebrate the vaguely Christian version of Christmas every year. If
you haven’t heard the story behind the holiday then here’s a very
abbreviated, non-religious summary:
A long time ago, a
man and a very pregnant woman were traveling from town to town, and
nobody had any spare room for them to sleep in. They were dirt poor
and desperate, and the owner of a local inn grudgingly told them to
sleep out in the barn because it was free. She gave birth in the barn
to a son. The son would grow up to be an influential man, and so the
holiday is nominally named for him.
In part because the
son grew up in such horrible conditions, the son would later preach
and practice tolerance and giving help to poor people, however you
could, wherever you were. The son would tell you that they were not
the enemy, they were not the boogieman, but they were your friends
and neighbors, your brothers and sisters. To help them, honestly, is
to help yourself. It makes you feel better, it makes you holy.
This year has been a
long one for many people. The stress builds up until people can’t
handle it anymore and they freak out. I’ve found that the best way
to fight that, to remove the stress and clear your mind and get a
handle on everything, is to help others. It doesn’t have to be a
grand gesture or an expensive one if you can’t afford it. Simply
offering a kind word to strangers on the internet, or knowing your
friends’ troubles and helping them with a couple of them, or buy
them an extra thing they can’t afford, or just hug them. If your
friends and family and loved ones don’t have any place to stay,
offer them your living room couch or floor. Forget the ego, your ego
telling you that what you have to give isn’t very much at all and
looks pitiful and isn’t worthy. Yes, it is. An influential man was
born in the hay and the dirt of a barn in the backyard of an inn, and
it was more than good enough for him. It made him into a better
person.
Even when it’s not
Christmas, say in January or March or July, give comfort and aid and
solace. Inner calm is something that when provided for other people,
ends up paying off dividends to you. We all need this example more
than ever to face the future together.
Hau'oli Lanui, aloha
kakou.