As we come to the end of the third week (or six months, if you started in July) of this Christmas Season, and the near end of the Celebration of the eight nights of Hanukkah, and the upcoming arrival of Kwanzaa, many can reflect on the meanings of these special days, weeks, and seasons. During people’s preparation of these times, people often focus on their impact on their religions (if we practice religion), and/or culture (if we honor the heritage and beliefs of Africa), as they relearn and enjoy the meanings of the stories, customs, and traditions of St. Nicholas, Immaculate Conception Day, Bohdi Day, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the Festival of Yule (Winter Solstice).

If we have any small children, or grandchildren, we may be also seeing and living some through their believing eyes, the wonderment of Santa Claus, or the like throughout the world, some also known as Father Christmas, Sinterklaas, Pare Noel, Kris Kringle, and St. Nicholas. Other names/titles connected with places around the world during these times are Weihnachtsmann, Noel Baba, Joulupukki, Father Frost, Papa Noel, Ded Moroz, Dun Che Lao Ren, Papai Noel, Agiou Vasilis, Shengdan Lao Ren, Hoteiosho, Julenissen, Jultomten, Kanakaloeen, Julenalong, and Jolasveinar (Iceland’s Thirteen Yule Lads), along with St. Lucia, and La Befana.

Those little ones who celebrate any, one, or more, of these celebrations, saints, “people,” or titles, be they fictious or not, and are taught the religions, doctrines, or stories from where and whence they came, all seem to have one thing in common, and that is belief. Growing up Catholic, we were taught that belief and faith (my definition-a blind belief in something that might not seem to be believable) were synonymous with each other. Little ones, for a time in their lives, have faith in the idea or concept of Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy, or any of the other characters who make quiet visits to our homes leaving gifts and/or treats, if they’ve earned those, with good behavior, good deeds, and goon fellowship. Their belief, a.k.a. faith, gives many of us “older folks” hope that those beliefs, as fictitious as they might be, will continue in their minds and hearts as long as possible. Maybe too, because the innocence of their belief in these mind characters/traditions, might keep them innocent longer in our minds, and may even give us a chance to turn back our personal clocks, and enjoy celebrating, once again, those special days/memories of our own youth.

Growing up, and getting older, as members of the Catholic Church, we learned many things that were taught, and professed, to us in our religion. In time, we developed faith in what we were taught and used that as a Foundation of our Spiritual Faith. Back in those days, we were emphatically taught that faith was belief. At this stage of my life, I still believe in much of what we were taught.

I loved my upbringing. I love my heritage. I have wonderful memories of my Catholic School Education, the priests and nuns, the lay teachers, and other personnel at St. James School. I have fond memories of the traditions we had in those K-through 9 years, the collections for the poor, the May Crowning, the Passion Play, being an altar server, and St. James Football. As I look back at a lot of these things, I’ll admit, some of what we were taught we learned through guilt, some of that coming from the church, some from the school, and some coming from our parents too. None of that bothered me, and I don’t think it bothered a lot of us in those days, mainly because that was the way it was back then.

Just as I wish, and hope, my grandchildren don’t grow up too fast and lose their faith and innocence for Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, we, of all ages, need to continue to believe in the spirit of goodness in those visitors, and the happiness they bring, I hope they always keep hearing, remembering, and retelling the story of the Birth of Jesus, and what the celebrations of Good Friday and Easter Sunday are all about, and always believe in the meaning and spirit of those special days and occurrences too. I know that someday they will lose their belief in those fictitious home visitors, but my hope is that they will still, and always, believe in spirituality, and the inclusion of Love, Respect, Kindness, Non-Judgement, Generosity, and never intimidate anyone to do, or not do something because of the fear of an outcome devised, and pressured, by someone them or someone else. If they grow up and believe something different that I may believe, and it’s something they truly believe in their hearts and minds, and is within the parameters of respect, decency, civility, and tolerance, then I’m okay with that and will continue to love them unconditionally. I will hope they stick to their own faith, and respect any, and all, people for having the right to believe what they do, within those same parameters listed, whether they agree with them or not.

I know many things are wrong today. We see and hear about them almost daily. I would never want my children, grandchildren, and/or great-grandchildren to believe, promote, advocate, or agree with anything that is illegal, harmful, dangerous, or hateful, but if they want to believe in Santa Claus longer than eight or nine years old, or hopefully believe in the Holy Trinity as long as they live, I will live my remaining days respecting them, and their beliefs, agreement or not. So, even if you have questions or problems with ideology in many practices, or isms, in today’s world, or the methodology of how things are decided or done these days, we can still practice our faith in our own minds, hearts, and in our own way. It’s called, “Keeping the Faith.”

We often hear the cry, “You Gotta Believe,” when cheering for a sports’ team, or for something we want to happen to really happen. There are beliefs we carry in our hearts and minds, and maybe we’ve “gotta” stand by our convictions for, as well. There are many people we encounter in all parts of our lives who, despite personality differences, differences of opinion, and personal preferences in living their lives, still have positive qualities and deserve respect, compromise, and acceptance. We could, and should, have faith in the good they have inside them. Faith in isms is important, faith in people is imperative.

Corinthians 1:13:13 reads, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I agree with that biblical quote, but there’s still a lot to be said about Hope and Faith too. Often, in today’s life, you’ve just got to believe first.