Bridging during the Holidays
-
Bridging during the Holidays
The next 6 weeks are full of holiday activities–and OPPORTUNITIES to live out a bridging life style and practice our bridging skills to build deeper relationships and bring people together.
I watched some episodes of series “The Chosen” today, and it was especially evident that Jesus enjoyed bringing very different people together to eat around a table, even to be his apostles. They included people who used to fish for a living, a Jewish tax collector considered a traitor to the Romans, a prior insurrectionist trained to carry out political assassinations, a medical doctor, some educated and some uneducated, some rich and some poor, some “acceptably” religious and some not, a few hot headed and one a bit too greedy.
Here are some of the things that I sometimes practice during Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Hanukkah, Bodhi Day, and/or Kwanzaa, among others.
1. Politely get invited and attend your friend’s holiday, especially when it is not your own. If you want to deepen a friendship, you can try inviting someone to your holiday celebration. At the same time, it is more powerfully bonding for you to show up in their territory, learn their culture, and let them reveal more about themselves to you.
2. Gather people who do not have friends and family to get together with you. Have everyone bring some food and/or drink. Or call and ask them if there is something they would like to do. If they invite you over, be ready to answer “Yes.” One year, I gathered a group at a Chinese restaurant in China Town. It turns out that my Jewish friends are accustomed to enjoying Chinese food on Christian holidays. I never knew before. Now I do.
3. When and wherever you gather, invite people to share what is customary on this special day in their family, especially when they were growing up.
Listen. Affirm. Ask an exploratory question. Be curious. Feel free to share from your own experience, authentically and openly. without trying to convince anyone that your way is right or better.
Learning more about them and their culture helps you to be a better bridge between cultures, worldviews, and peoples. And you will, with God’s favorable involvement, also become better friends.
What about you? What do you practice during this holiday time to be a bridge among people who are especially different from you?
If you want help thinking about the holidays your friends might enjoy celebrating, here is a list of 11 upcoming holidays, helpfully described, from The Times Magazine: Which one does your friend celebrate?
11 Holidays the World Celebrates in December
5 minute read
https://time.com/6242283/december-global-holidays-christmas-hanukkah-yule/
-
0 Replies
Sorry, there were no replies found.
Log in to reply.