Rotary Shares – the Holiday Season
By Frank Deaver
Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA
 

     A song we hear in December each year proclaims, "It's the holiday season," and in various countries of the world Rotarians celebrate in a variety of ways.  Central to all, however, is a spirit of giving that adds meaning to the 2007-08 Rotary theme, Rotary Shares.

     What do the world's December (and January) holidays have in common?  Among their other celebrations, two themes emerge: giving to others, and a time of new beginnings.  Consider these, in date order:

     • Jewish Hanukkah (Dec. 5-12).  It is common to give presents to children, while the past is memorialized with daily sequential lighting of candles.
     • Islamic Festival of Sacrifice (Dec. 20).  An animal is ceremonially sacrificed, and as an expression of generosity the meat is distributed to relatives, friends, and the poor.
     • Winter Solstice (Dec. 22).  The shortest day of the year initiates a rebirth, a renewal of opportunity.
     • Christian Christmas (Dec. 25) or Eastern Orthodox (Jan. 7).  Tradition of gift-giving to family members and to the needy, commemorating Jesus' birth and gifts brought to the child.
     • Boxing Day (Dec. 26).  Employers give presents – Christmas boxes – to those who have worked for them throughout the year.
     • African-American Kwanzaa (Dec. 26-Jan. 1).  African-American celebration over seven days, culminating in a feast and gift-giving.
     • New Years Day (Jan. 1). Beginning a new calendar year, with its resolutions and opportunities for self-improvement and service.
     • Thai Pongal (Jan. 13-16).  A Southeast Asia harvest festival celebrating prosperity, and thanking the rain, sun, and farm animals for help in the harvest.

     Rotarians may have routinely observed one or more of these celebrations, but in the spirit of the Rotary Shares theme, here is an opportunity to extend the "Family of Rotary" by exploring other traditions.

     Look around your community, and you're sure to find those from other countries who can't go home for the holidays – perhaps international students or employees of a foreign company located in your area.  You could make their holidays brighter, and your own as well, by including  them in some of your family events.  And while sharing with them, you can learn about traditions in their homeland.  If children or grandchildren will be in your home during the holidays, this would be a marvelous way to introduce them to traditions of other lands.

     You will have given the best gift of all, the gift of friendship.  You will have demonstrated the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self," and that indeed, Rotary Shares.  And you will have made the holiday season less lonely for someone far from home.  In return, you and your family will have experienced international goodwill and understanding.  You will have learned traditions of other lands.  And you will have bonded international friendships that will continue far beyond the holiday season.