care more about others at holiday gatherings..Laugh a little

Laundry room excellent place to air family laundry
Scene from Dan in Real Life

Holidays bring friends and family together. But if your friends or family include two or more people there is likely to be disagreements in issues, or philosophy, behavior, attitudes, beliefs and the list goes on. A family or circle of friends may include different political parties. If your family includes young people they may be independent and indifferent to our two party system.
I can remember back in the day when kids and parents didn't agree, most of that turned out to be not as important as family, friends, and caring. I have been to many funerals where regret was stronger than the argument.
I was thinking of a thought by Nelson Mandela where he felt it is easier on humans to love than the opposite. Paul shares great ideas about love and its healthful effect on human relationships in 1 Corinthians 13
Get out your Bible and Consider:
13:1-3 It is easy to be divisive in relationship to things we experience vs. 1, things we know, vs. two and things we practice vs. 3. Being older I have knowledge and experience, the kids being younger are keen to their learning and fresh experience. Both sides can claim superiority.
In verses 8-11 we see our experience, knowledge, and practice is incomplete at best. In verse 12a I like the KJV, "For now we see through a glass, darkly". In modern translations, "dimly" used the most, "imperfect" in the TLB. So many things we know more but we have a lot more to learn. Think in the medical terms what we know about heart, cancer, and diabetes; we know a lot but we haven't cured these things. There is a feeling by many that we are just beginning to learn. We draw lines in the dirt and it matters but we are still learning. What we experience, know and learn is important but we all see things from our point of view. We have limits so we should give ourselves some slack.
The solution is seen in vs. 4-7 and vs. 13. What matters the most is love. Love is not romantic here. Vs. 4-7 define love. Love is that which seeks the other good above oneself. It is the Gk. word "ἀγάπη" referring to God's love for us. Love is...
Friends and family who have in front of them "love is" will work through the knowledge, experience and practice issues we have and some how embrace one another in the process.
Two thoughts...I (old guy) need to listen as the Grandpa it is easy to preach, but I have more fun listening; and all of us need to respect, trust, forgive and care for each other. Laughter seems a good idea in all of this as well.
Laundry problems in life don't belong on a talk show for others to laugh at and they don't belong in our holiday gatherings as well. Laundry seems best when private and personal. Personal agendas will be played out selfishly and usually backfire. I always told my kids I am not going on Oprah, Jerry Springer and the like. They can go on, but I am not watching. Family laundry isn't somebodies entertainment in a modern gladiator stadium or studio. And at the family gatherings it is not the time either.

Funny scene

There is a scene in "Dan of Real Life" where mom and pop talk to Dan about his issues in the laundry room. It is a great scene as mom and dad reach out for his best. That is a private moment. Parents with intelligence and a sense of humor. Besides the shower scene it is the best scene in the movie.
yesterday shoveled for 20 minutes. Dry snow and cold, the best. Doing stuff around the house, putz workouts are healthy.
Keep walking