12/24/2025
This holiday season is a time many traditions hold as sacredâa time for reflection, generosity, gratitude, and coming together. Across cultures and faiths, these days invite us to slow down, open our hearts, and remember what truly matters: love, connection, and care for one another.
As we celebrate, it is also important to remember that the world does not pause its difficulties during the holidays. Around the globe, many families are facing real challenges. In Sri Lanka, where my mother, my sister, and much of my family live, powerful storms have caused serious disruption. Homes are flooded, daily life is uncertain, and concern travels quickly across long distances through phone calls and quiet moments of waiting.
Like many of you, I am holding both gratitude and worry at the same time.
These moments remind us that suffering is shared. It touches every culture, every belief system, every family. And yet, they also remind us of something equally true: goodness is everywhere, if we are willing to look for it. Even in the midst of hardship, people help one another. Families stay connected. Neighbors offer shelter, food, and comfort. Compassion continues to moveâoften quietly, but steadily.
People sometimes ask how spiritual practice helps during times like this. Practice does not remove difficulty, but it teaches us how to meet it wisely. When fear arises, I return to the breath. When worry appears, I return to compassion. When I cannot control outcomes, I choose presence and kindness.
This is how peace growsânot by denying pain, but by remembering that love remains available in every moment.
During the holidays, many of us gather with family and friends while carrying unseen burdens. Let us remember:
We come together not to fix one another, but to understand.
We gather not to demand perfection, but to offer kindness.
Each person we meet is carrying something invisible. When we listen deeply and speak gently, we create a sense of home that goes beyond any place, tradition, or belief.
Wise teachings across all paths remind us that expectation often brings disappointment, while acceptance opens the door to gratitude. When we soften our ideas of how things âshouldâ be, we begin to notice how much goodness is already present. Joy does not disappear in difficult timesâit becomes quieter, humbler, and more precious.
May your home be filled not with urgency, but with presence.
Not with pressure, but with care.
Not with perfection, but with love.
May this holiday season remind us that even in a world facing many storms, goodness is all around usâwaiting to be seen, practiced, and shared.
With gratitude and loving-kindness, may we all be well, happy and peaceful.
Bhante Sujatha, The Loving Kindness Monk