Inclusion and freedom mean we all get to decide what we believe. These are important ideas as this time of year is full of many different traditions, beliefs and customs. Today, I’d like to reflect on why faith and my Christian faith are important to me in approaching the year-end holidays and holy days.

My friend Shirin McArthur is an Episcopal laywoman and spiritual director who writes a weekly blog post. More than once, we have discussed the challenge of writing about our Christianity and belief in Jesus in a time when the word Christian is often tied to “right-wing beliefs” or moral and political views that appall both of us.

Talking about Christianity reminds me of the challenge of talking about “unsafe neighborhoods”. Another friend David Boehlke is an urban geographer and leader in developing strategies for neighborhood development.  He often points out how whole sections of a community are deemed unsafe because of the inaccurate way that media report where incidents occur. Enormous areas of a city are described as West or East Baltimore or Southeast Washington DC. A robbery or other crime is reported at vague locations. This tarnishes the image of a vast part of the City, often reinforcing racial stereotypes and fears.

Like neighborhood safety, the word Christian covers a huge territory and is subject to wide interpretations. This is not unique to Christians. There is wide diversity about beliefs within Judaism, Islam, Buddhist traditions, and other belief systems.

The cultural debate between the Happy Holidays generic approach and a more traditional faith-based approach to holidays is not a matter of establishing who is right.  Instead, it is about acknowledging the vast array of faiths and their remarkable power to help us on our spiritual paths.

Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and founder of the Center for Contemplation and Action wrote last week about the inter-connection of faith, hope and love in his daily post (Dec. 12, 2022). He begins by exploring the question of trust. In what do we trust? Without trust, I become cynical and exhausted by trying to understand and explain a world beyond my understanding. Rohr concludes his discussion of trust by saying: “Healthy religion shares a compelling and attractive foundation for human goodness and dignity and shows us ways to build on that benevolent foundation.”

It is our faith in human goodness that unites us all. I have written before about the tenet that there is a good within every being and creation that connects us. Richard Rohr uses the word “God” to describe this trust and coherence. Others find other words. He writes: “In the practical order, we find our Original Goodness, the image of God that we are, when we can discover and own the faith, hope, and love deeply planted within us:

A trust in inner coherence itself. “It all means something! (Faith)
A trust that this coherence is positive and going somewhere good. (Hope)
A trust that this coherence includes me and even defines me. (Love)”

I have come to accept that it doesn’t matter how you arrive at trust in something or even if you do. What matters is that there is such goodness available to us all. That is why I enjoy celebrating the birth of Jesus and singing carols that celebrate this birth. For me it is the birth of goodness and the birth of hope in that goodness. The more I believe, the more open my heart becomes to giving and receiving goodness and love.

That is my wish for you and those you love this Christmas and holiday season – that your appreciation of your goodness and the goodness of all may grow.