December 24, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Images of the Holidays

The Season is finally here!

Sending all my readers and friends around the world

greetings and best wishes for the Holidays.

bjwordpressdivider-1

Chanukah celebrations begin this evening around the world.

Children will play the Dreidel game

Menorahs will be lit with candles in remembrance

of the time when Jews regained the Temple

to find that they had only one day’s worth of oil left in the Temple

for the Eternal Flame

And a miracle let the oil last for eight days

long enough to make more oil

Presents are given to children for the eight nights the holiday lasts

chanukah

chanukah1

chanukah4

Christmas Eve is also tonight and is frequently when families go to candle light

services as a family.

Some open presents on the eve and some on Christmas morn.This

is the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

christmas1

christmas2

Kwanzaa begins December 26 and runs through January 1

Zawadi - Gift-giving for Kwanzaa

The greetings during Kwanzaa are in Swahili. Swahili is a Pan-African language and is chosen to reflect African Americans’ commitment to the whole of Africa and African culture rather than to a specific ethnic or national group or culture. The greetings are to reinforce awareness of and commitment to the Seven Principles. It is: “Habari gani?” and the answer is each of the principles for each of the days of Kwanzaa, i.e., “Umoja”, on the first day, “Kujichagulia”, on the second day and so on.

Gifts are given mainly to children, but must always include a book and a heritage symbol. The book is to emphasize the African value and tradition of learning stressed since ancient Egypt, and the heritage symbol to reaffirm and reinforce the African commitment to tradition and history.

The colors of Kwanzaa are black, red and green as noted above and can be utilized in decorations for Kwanzaa. Also decorations should include traditional African items, i.e., African baskets, cloth patterns, art objects, harvest symbols, etc.

kwansa

kwansa-600x763

herizakwanzaa-happykwanzaa_000

However you celebrate your holiday be blessed

and know you are a part of the family of Man and of God.

We honor all cultures and all paths

Put positive energy into the Universe and the entire World

will Shine with the Light of being connected to each other in Love and Acceptance.

I wish the World a year of PEACE and JOY!

Namaste

Barbara

September 5, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

We are now Talking About War and Peace

We honor and desire peace

” The next dreadful thing to a battle lost is a battle one.” —-Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

“I think that people want peace so much that one of these days the government had better get out of their way and let them have it.” —-Dwight D. Eisenhower

“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objectors enjoy the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” —-John F. Kennedy

“Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous” —George Bernard Shaw

“Never think that war, no matter how justified, is not a crime.” —-Ernest Hemmingway

“Peace, shalom,

is not

the absence of difficulties but

the handling of difficulties without

loss of balance.

Shalom is not the absence of tension

but the acceptance of it as part of the Way.

Shalom is not the absence of war

but the careful waging of war

without losing one’s balance.

Shalom, is not passive non-violence,

but active confrontation with truth. Shalom is the ablitity to see the

grain of life

and act in accord with it;

to discover that effortless effort,

action in tune with the Way of Universe,

is the secret of both peace and power.” —Rabbi Bami Shapiro

Peace is the Way

“It is not how much we do that is important; rather, it is the love with which our actions are performed that is most important. The smallest action, done with love, will lead us toward peace.: —-Mother Teresa