A Holiday Lesson from Advent

What's Advent and is there anything relevant about it for a health blog?

Advent is the start of the Christian new year, which in 2024 was on December 1st. Its a time in the Christian faith of expectation, remembering the birth of Jesus who lived (on earth) around 2,000 years ago. So in our secular world, are there any lessons from Jesus or the accounts of Jesus that we can universally apply to enhance our community and our personal well being? Yes, there are many, but as we head into the end of 2024 and start of 2025, I reflect on just one, humility.

At my church, Advent Sunday featured passages predicting and recording the humility of Jesus. How despite his all powerful nature, the ability to calm the seas, to restore life to the dead, and even to know our every thought (that's more than a little scary), he 'emptied' himself in the vulnerability of human birth, in a stable or cave in or near Bethlehem. How he provided healing and care for the marginalized, dared to dine with outcasts, and at his trial before Pontius Pilate on charges of blasphemy he truly 'turned the other cheek'. Jesus was clearly not passive though, the stories reveal a very strong character, a person of action and compassion delivered.

As we head into Christmas and the holidays it can be a time of joy and a time of stress as family tensions are magnified by proximity or mourning is amplified by a sense of loneliness. So what a wonderful thing to exercise humility, and with that care and empathy for those around us, whether they be family, colleagues, friends, the mourning and strangers.

If you can, slow down this season. For those of us with warm homes, food on the table and a choice of clothes to wear, have the humility to grateful and the humility to be mindful of those less fortunate and yes, do something for the less fortunate. Happy Advent season to you.