Many cultures settled on the month of December for their most cherished holidays, bringing warmth and light to a point on the calendar that, in much of the world, is cold and dark.
This year, even more than most, Americans need that comfort, need to be lifted up by that energy. There have been months, years of painful partisan and cultural divisions tearing at this nation. Various degrees of social and political strain are showing elsewhere in the world, as well.
Today is Christmas Day, a celebration rooted in Christianity, an observance of the birth of Jesus Christ and the hope this represents to the faithful.
In addition to the other religious holidays that fall at the end of the year — Jewish communities are in the midst of Hanukkah observances, for example — Christmas has been embraced across the U.S. by adherents of other faiths, or of no faith, as a time for giving to loved ones and those in need.
The holiday season may provide an impetus for overcoming some of the poisonous rhetoric that has eroded social bonds in scattered places across the country. It’s time to put away the talk of war, to break out of our self-interested bubbles, and focus outwardly on ways to help the community at large.
And there may be no better example of how that’s done than the practices of the Hawaiians of old. Now they would have been in the midst of the makahiki, a four-month festival and interlude between the harvest and the start of the next agricultural cycle. It was a time for renewal of the Earth and its people, too.
Makahiki begins with the rising of the Makali‘i, otherwise known as the constellation Pleiades. It was dedicated to Lono, god of fertility and rain, signaling the renewal that would come with the winter rains. War was stopped for that period while the commoners feasted and enjoyed competitive sports.
According to a posting on the Ka‘iwakiloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center, part of Kamehameha Schools, “This period served as an opportunity to both fortify existing bonds and forge new relationships.”
That is definitely the spirit that would serve us now.
In the wake of the impeachment upheaval, in particular, Americans are feeling split apart. And, if polls are to be believed, the divide is right down the middle. There is an almost irresistible urge to choose a side, wear the color of one’s team.
But for many, there is also a pit-of-the-stomach knot, a sick sensation.
It’s almost unanimous that this needs correcting. A recent Public Agenda/USA Today/Ipsos survey found that more than 90% of respondents believe that it’s important for the United States to try to reduce that divisiveness.
Most agreed that finding out how to have a constructive conversation with people on the opposite side of the debate would be a productive way to start.
First, however, it would help to take off one’s own ideological blinders and look toward a common direction. Americans are still generous souls, so charity might be one way to unite with the like- and unlike-minded. A shared project could remind everyone that we are not so different in the ways that matter.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Good Neighbor Fund offers one pathway for sharing through helpinghandshawaii.org. But there are many other routes, at one’s church or community center, at a shelter — even simply by looking across the room at a loved one who needs help.
Today the remaining gift to consider, that gift of renewal, would be one that requires no wrapping and could last well into the new year.
And while you’re at it, offer this wish to one more person: Merry Christmas!
