stereotypical single woman

This last week I finally put up my Christmas tree, got out the Christmas music (thanks to David, go see him, say hi, he’s been sick so tell him to get well soon), put up my little nativity (complete with a happy Buddha - he’s one of the wise men, I’m on the lookout for a Krishna and a Tiki god to complete the triumvirate, and they’ll bring Baby Jesus a dreidel, a dreamcatcher, and voodoo doll in the shape of King Herod), and just sat back and thought about the holidays. I remember a time when I viewed it as a much more religious and holy holiday, but thanks to the company I keep and the education I’ve had it becomes less of a conventionally religious experience every year. Not that this is a bad thing.

I’m a quietly religious person. The best way to describe myself is as a non-practicing Catholic with Buddhist and Shinto tendencies. It’s a completely contradictory statement but it works for me. I grew up in a very educated and religious household (yes, they do exist) thanks to my parents’ backgrounds - before marrying my mother was a Dominican Nun and my father was a priest in the Grand Rapids Diocese. While they did send my sisters and I to Catholic grade school to give us a solid religious background neither of them ever hesitated to answer our questions about other beliefs and religions. They taught us the good with the bad about all religions, including our own, and never pressured us into any one belief structure. For that I am very grateful to them, as it produced three children who may not always be good Catholics but are still very good people.*

So instead of this being a traditionally religious holiday, to me it is a celebration of the people I have in my life and the year that I’ve had. It’s a time to let everyone know how much they mean to me, thank them for being here, and just enjoy spending time with my family and friends. And I think that is just as valid of a religious experience as going to mass on Christmas morning.

*Basically it taught me to have a live and let live attitude toward religion and I believe that just about all religious teachings can be boiled down to one simple phrase - “Don’t be an asshole.” If, when deciding if something is right or wrong, everyone would just asked themselves “If I (fill in the blank) will someone call me an asshole?” And if the answer was yes, and they just didn’t do it, the world would be a much happier place.