It’s a little weird to talk about love being the reason for the season when so many of us are surrounded by not-love. Especially for those of us in the US (but soon perhaps, elsewhere too, regretfully), we have been pummeled and badgered by the results of a brutal election – not brutal physically, not brutal with street riots (I don’t think), but brutal in the promise of a government that absolutely will not care one iota about its electorate. Brutal with the realization that if we do escape the next four years still having a republic, it will be a (pardon the expression) bloody miracle.

And yet there are glimmers of hope. The president-elect and his buddy just got a serious smackdown in the halls of a Congress that was none too impressed with the bill they wanted to tout. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union are preparing to fight. Time will tell if any of these efforts will be enough to preserve our country.

And yet – and yet – it is important to take a little time out of the incredible stress we feel both now and in anticipation of the four years to come, to pause and celebrate the love we have for the people in our lives. We still give gifts to the people who mean the most to us. We need to hold onto this, as much as we can.

I say this as someone who needs to take my own advice. I haven’t been much of a participant in my UU church since the election. My participation in the Making Ma’at rites posted by The Twisted Rope – all those Execration Rites I did – they seem to have come to naught. I’m still regrouping. And at some point I plan on calling “the Revs,” the leaders of my temple, to see if they have any Kemetic-specific ideas or advice on how to move forward.

Today I celebrated the Solstice, called the Festival of Ra in my temple. The featured photo is of my shrine during today’s rite. The dark statue you can barely see is one of Ra that I purchased when my husband, brother-in-law and I attended the Beyond King Tut exhibit in Jacksonville almost a year ago.

Anyway, in these dark times we live in, I still couldn’t pass up the opportunity to re-post my annual holiday message. Maybe especially in these times, this message might be needed by all of us.

Please be well. Please take care of yourselves. We will get through this.

Happy holidays.

The real reason for the season