Recently I joined my sister and her family for some quality "Christmas Tree decorating" time. Of course the night started off with my 2 year old niece being asked to put the Christmas balls on the tree. To which she reach in the Tupperware storage container, palmed a shiny red and white glass ornament, and tossed it at the tree. Yes I know, balls are meant to be thrown!
But the highlight of the night was when I overheard Timothy telling his father that he wanted to put the star atop the tree. As his little 6year old self explained, it was important to him because his teacher had told him earlier in the day why most people placed a star on their tree. As I directed my attention to his story he went into detail about how Mrs. B had taught his class that, the night Jesus was born, a bright star was place in the sky. As a public school teacher I was immediately struck by Mrs. B's decision to breach the biblical story of Jesus' birth. We are a christian family and both Timothy and Rilynn were baptized in the Catholic Church, but creationism in school is virtually unheard of in the public school system here in Good Ol' Jersey. It was only an instant later that I found myself smiling with a tear in my eye as Timmy went on to explain Dawli, Hannukah and Kwanzaa. I was filled with pride knowing that my little nephew would grow to be an honest humble man.
Later that night I fell in love all over again as he sat nestled in my lap as we surfed the internet researching all types of religious and cultural beliefs. The beauty of religion is that you don't have to subscribe to a set of standards to honor the beauty of differences.
So as you celebrate this year, may Timmy & I wish you a blessed holiday season. xoxo
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