Steve Frey
George Harrison once said, “I remember thinking I just want more. This isn’t it. Fame is not the goal. Money is not the goal. To be able to know how to get peace of mind, how to be happy, is something you don’t just stumble across. You’ve got to search for it.”
Harrison died 17 years ago tomorrow. He was only 58. As lead guitarist of the Beatles, he helped change the music world during the 1960s, but he was much more than a Beatle.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were both older than Harrison, and they did most of the writing for the group. Harrison would get a song on an album, but he was often frustrated that he couldn’t share more of his music.
The songs that did make the cut were often some of the best the group produced. “Here Comes the Sun,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Taxman” are just a few of his hits with the Beatles. Of course, his greatest song was “Something,” which Lennon said was the best song on the Abbey Road album, and Frank Sinatra claimed was the best love song ever written.
Harrison was known as the “quiet Beatle.” He seemed the most down to earth. All of the Beatles explored Eastern religions, but Harrison embraced them, settling on Hare Krishna. His music after the Beatles often reflected his religious beliefs as with “My Sweet Lord.” He was compassionate, thoughtful and centered.
Harrison was still relatively young when cancer took him in 2001. When he died, his family released the following statement: “He left this world as he lived in it: conscious of God, fearless of death and at peace, surrounded by family and friends.”
That statement was perfect. Harrison had died as he lived—at peace.
Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New Year is a time of reflection for many. Most are thankful for their blessings and extend kindness toward others. As Harrison said, many are searching for peace of mind and happiness, and that search often includes introspection.
Harrison shared a good starting place: “That’s it really; it’s all love, whichever way you look at it, it’s all love. How much you can get from each other, and that’s determined by how much you’re giving to each other. But it all starts within our self, and then it spreads to those around us, good and bad. But basically, that’s it, I think it’s the love that we can generate is equal to the love that we get back.”
That is a large part of this season. Whether you are sharing the “peace on earth, good will to men” of Christmas, experiencing the thankfulness and light of Hanukkah, focusing on the core principles of Kwanzaa, or reflecting on fresh beginnings in the new year, love is undoubtedly an integral part of it all.
In some Christian traditions, the time before Christmas is known as Advent. Coincidentally, the eight days of Hanukkah and the first day of Advent both begin on the same day this year: Dec. 2.
Starting with the First Sunday of Advent, many Christians light a candle on an Advent wreath, adding one candle each of the four weeks before Christmas. The lighting of the candle is usually accompanied by a Bible reading, devotional time and prayers. With Hanukkah, on each of eight consecutive nights, a new candle on the menorah is lighted.
The variety of celebrations is why people often say “Happy Holidays” to others during this season. Many Americans are celebrating different holidays, and sometimes there are large groups of people with different religions being addressed, or people might not be sure if another person is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hare Krishna, Buddhist, etc.
Some Christians get upset because someone fails to say “Merry Christmas.” Politicians have tried to divide Americans by saying that people are attacking Christianity when they are merely trying to “love their neighbors as themselves” and be inclusive.
Whether it’s Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas or “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you,” it’s about good will toward others, isn’t it?
It was great to see Christians joining the Jewish people from the Tree of Life Synagogue in candlelight memorials after a prejudiced madman killed congregants during a service merely because they were Jewish. Muslims participated in the memorials, too, and raised thousands of dollars to support the families of the people murdered.
Over and over, Americans have shown that it is not religion that separates us, but love that connects us. During this season of light, people come together to feed the hungry, clothe the cold and attend to the sick. They don’t worry about religious differences, nationalities or color, because they know that love is stronger than any differences. Everyone is connected; all are part of one race: the human race.
There is a song that contains the lyrics: “They will know we are Christians by our love.” An easy substitution for Christians could be Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Hare Krishnas or most any other religion.
During this time of year, when nights get longer, candles brighten the darkness and stars guide our way, hopefully, love will be at the heart of our interactions.
It’s like George Harrison once said, “With our love, we could save the world.”
Steve Frey is a writer and CEO of Ascendant Educational Services based in Radford.