But the magic of Christmas transcends well beyond the secular meaning of the holiday. Believers of many other faiths also hold dear to the sentiments of this holiday gift – “Peace on earth, good will toward men”. People of other religions and beliefs can, and do appreciate this ideal, too. Especially in the wake of two horrific events that impacted all of us this year; the Oso landslide in March and the Marysville Pilchuck shooting in October. Here are two specific events that caused us all to shift gears and realign our daily lives to help others in a time of need.

The communities of Arlington, Lakewood, Smokey Point and Tulalip rallied together to help our neighbors and friends in the wake of these tragedies. In fact, I believe the outpouring of support from all who participated was cathartic in a way. I am convinced that the willingness to be of service to others in a time of need is generally in our nature for most of us. And I believe service to our neighbors is a divine remedy to help heal our own personal anguishes. I am proud of our communities and how they all stepped up; from businesses to organizations to families to individuals, people were pitching in with what they had to offer, whether it be time, money, food, shelter or whatever resources they could provide.

Personally, I am not at all surprised by the altruistic giving we observed. It is basically who the citizens of these communities are.

Let’s not forget the fabulous work everyday performed by our area churches. And the dedicated people of organizations such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill Industries, American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, just to name a few. Our individual and collective support of these worthy organizations needs to continue well beyond the holidays.

But because we humans are flawed by nature, we don’t always live by the creed of “peace on Earth, good will towards men” throughout the year. I am no exception. We tend to fall short at times in our personal lives and relationships. We also see evidence of these character defects in the news virtually every day throughout our nation and the world in the form of war, crime, greed, lust and corruption. So, I’m inviting all who read this to join me in a New Year’s resolution. Let’s all commit to work a bit harder to be more kind, compassionate and understanding toward all people. I realize I will never be perfect. God did not make me perfect. That is not an ideal I will ever achieve. But I can move closer toward being a better

person if I conscientiously work at it. And I choose to do just that. And finally, does it really matter what greeting we offer our neighbors during this holiday? Whether it be Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? Happy Hanukkah? Whatever? I don’t feel any person should feel compelled to deny themselves of expressing a holiday greeting that is appropriate and comfortable to them personally. And those of us receiving this greeting should feel grateful, not offended, for another person’s gesture of kindness and good will.

After all, these greetings convey the same true underlying meaning of the holiday – Let there be peace on earth, good will toward men. I wish you all a truly blessed season of love, happiness and prosperity now and in the new year to come!