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The Holidays are upon us Joy Chasers. The months November through January are chock full of Holidays. Holidays celebrating all kinds of beliefs, faiths and nationalities. Here are a few:- Eid'ul-Adha - The "Festival of Sacrifice" which took place on November 7th is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened
- Thanksgiving - The holiday is celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.
- Saint Nicholas Day - - The tradition of Saint Nicholas Day is a festival, taking place on December 6th, for children in many countries in Europe related to surviving legends of Saint Nicholas, and particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts. The American Santa Claus, as well as the Anglo-Canadian and British Father Christmas, derive from these legends.
- Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Our Lady of Guadalupe takes place on December 12 when Hispanic Catholics reflect on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe who is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary.
- St. Lucia Day- Or the Feast of St. Lucy (Santa Lucia, Saint Lucia or sometimes Lucia for short) is the Church feast day dedicated to St. Lucy and is observed on December 13. Its modern day celebration is generally associated with Sweden and Norway. In traditional celebrations, Saint Lucy comes as a young woman with lights and sweets.
- Hanukkah - The Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days beginning December 20, 2011
- Christmas Day- The holiday is generally observed on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity
- Boxing Day - Boxing Day is a secular holiday that is traditionally celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day. In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. The tradition has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions.
- Kwanzaa - This weeklong celebration is held in the United States honoring universal African-American heritage and culture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activities such as lighting a candle holder with seven candles and culminates in a feast and gift giving.
- Omisoka - New Year's Eve, is the second-most important day in Japanese tradition because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of New Year's Day, which is the most important day of the year.
- Epiphany - Epiphany is celebrated with a wide array of customs around the world. It is a celepration of the manifestation of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Celebrated on January 6th, it includes the commemoration of His birth; the visit of the “Wise Men", and Jesus's childhood events, up to and including his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist
These Holidays are all celebrating different traditions but they do have a few things in common. There is an awful lot of feasting going on. Lots of sharing food amongst family and friends. There is also some gift giving going on. But most of all these Holidays are Joyful times for us to come together. So in honor of these holidays, and any holidays that you may celebrate that I did not list here, I am Challenging us, both you and me, Joy Chasers, to perform 100 Acts of JOY.
Acts of joy are those things that many of us do during the holiday seasons. We give to charities. We buy gifts for toys for tots. We donate care packages to our service men and women who will be far from home during the holidays. We volunteer at food pantries and hospitals. We do all sorts of stuff during this time of year to spread JOY. So, I am challenging us, as group to perform 100 (or more) acts of Joy this holiday season.
Every time you perform an Act of Joy leave a comment here, leave a comment on the Chasing Joy FB page, or send me a tweet on FB using hash tag #100ActsofJoy. This will allow me to update our Joy Ticker. Let’s see how much Joy we can give this holiday season.
What Holidays do you celebrate this time of year? Do they put you in a giving mood? Do you find yourself giving more of your time and money during the holidays?
