December 1st: Making kindness a habit

Today is Sunday, December 1st, 2024.
If you follow the Liturgical Calendar, it is the first day of Advent and Christians around the world begin preparing to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.

As a kid, I never really got the Advent season. I mean -- why would we prepare for something that happened 2000 years ago?
As a jaded adult, I still don't get it. Why celebrate the birth of a Savior whose teachings about caring for your fellow human beings you choose to ignore? 
Let's face it -- as a jaded adult, there isn't much about religion that I find valuable anymore. 

But I do value the teachings of Jesus, even as I sometimes struggle to value and care for the people around me.
I think I'm going to spend my Advent being purposeful about emulating a behavior or practice of Jesus daily. I'm not going to write about it daily. Although I may write to encourage others to do kind things in the coming days. I really haven't thought this out and I don't know what things I'll wind up doing. I do know that I am already dreading that I'll probably have to spend more time with people and am considering deleting this part and writing something else. 
I'm already on the schedule to work at the shelter tonight, so Day 1 is taken care of. Who knows what Days 2-24 might bring?

I welcome your suggestions and invite you to be purposefully kind and Christ-like in the days leading up to Christmas. The 3+ weeks might be enough to make daily kindness a habitual thing.

John