Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to one and all! Enjoy the season! Do something relaxing...do something wild...do something for someone else!

As for me, I travel to see family and friends this time of year, so I will be out of pocket until the 4th of January. Until then...be safe and be good to one another!

True

The Reason for the Season

I love this time of year. That could be because I get most of my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. That means that the typical annoyances of long shopping lines, limited gift selection, etc, never really come into view. Sure I have to deal with the crazy traffic and crowded malls, but in the grand scheme that is not a big deal. More often than not, I can kick back and enjoy the spirit of the season.

I was at a work-related Christmas party this week. When I wished a friend a hearty, "Happy Holidays" when he quickly quipped back, "It's 'Merry Christmas' to me--I'm not Jewish or Buddhist or any of that non-sense."

Admittedly, I was a little taken aback. The reason for the season, this person would most certainly point out is about: Jesus and a celebration of his birth. I would extend that to include a celebration of his life, encompassing his teachings of radical wisdom, compassion and an embracing acceptance of all. With that in mind, I do not think for a moment that Jesus would discount the spiritual paths of others in their own journeys of connecting to the Sacred, God. Nor do I think he would insist upon discounting their enjoyment of the holiday season in their own way.

I realize that John's language in his gospel points to Jesus claiming one path--one way in which only he can serve as the human-divine bridge. However, I agree with the numerous scholars who point to John's gospel as being greatly impacted by the reflections of the early Christian movement. As such, I think we should return to those radical wisdom teachings that are far more likely to mirror genuine Jesus and point toward compassion. Such a compassion leads me to respect all spiritual paths and to embrace people of all faiths. It allows me to learn from their faiths as well as the Christian faith of my youth. It gives me the true reason for the season: Love and compassion toward all.

Happy Holidays!

Survey is off and running...

Thanks to all of you who have taken time from your online Christmas Shopping to fill out the Religion and You survey from The Compassion Revolution. We're off and running to a good start in the first weekend for the survey.

I am very curious to see what kind of results we yield. We're really just trying to gauge America's spiritual temperature. Hopefully, we'll discover the value of spirituality in the lives of the average American while learning more about their chosen spiritual path and how they came to be on that specific path.

I do not want the results to be skewed. I am not posting news of the survey on conservative or liberal blogs or social network sites. The only promotion is through the media. Hopefully, this will give us a balanced sample to analyze.

Thanks again and Happy Holidays to all!

Survey Religion & You is now available

The first annual survey on the state of religion in the US is now available! It takes about 5-7 minutes to complete and responses are completely confidential. The results will be released in February of 2010. Thank you for taking the survey! Just click the link below!

http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=7902a100-5dd5-45f9-8f8f-349628d00225

Religion & You Survey coming soon...

New Survey entitled, "Religion & You" will be introduced this month from the Compassion Revolution. The purpose of the survey will be to uncover where America stands on the religious front as of 2009. Stay tuned to facebook and our blog for more information!