Posts Categorized: Holidays

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Featured image for Understanding Ash Wednesday: From the Protestant Reformation to Mardi Gras - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LENT-ScotkinnamanDOTcom.png?fit=291%2C173&ssl=1
I set out wanting to better understand a holiday that is celebrated in my own backyard, yet is one I know very little about: Ash Wednesday In the process I found myself thinking once again about the the churches I attended as a child and the neighborhoods I once lived in.  I spent a few… more »
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Featured image for From the Middle of Black History Month - Image Source at https://i2.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BHM.jpeg?fit=175%2C175&ssl=1
Have you wondered as I have why February was chosen as the month to honor African-Americans? Actually, I wonder, when choice is involved, why anything is celebrated in winter. Celebrations, to me, are best exercised outdoors, in the sun, with balmy breezes blowing.  But, I was not consulted, so February it is. Officially established in… more »
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Featured image for Habari Gani: Happy Kwanzaa - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Kwanzaa.jpeg?fit=248%2C203&ssl=1
You’ve heard of Kwanzaa? I hadn’t until I moved to Philadelphia. Even then, what I thought I knew has turned out to be mistaken. So, what better opportunity might there be to learn about this rapidly growing American-founded holiday than to write a blog post? I loved what I discovered and I hope you will… more »
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Featured image for My Christmas Eve Post for 2018 - Image Source at https://i1.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/the-power-of-peace-1914.jpg?fit=300%2C140&ssl=1
How do you think of Christmas time? Over the past few decades, I’ve come to see winter as a time of peace. A time to pull inward; a time for personal reflection and a time to breath in the wonder and awe in the world around me. The story that most connects me to the power… more »
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Featured image for The Culture of Philanthropy - Image Source at https://i2.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/GIVING.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1
Yesterday was “giving Tuesday,” a fairly new idea.  And a global movement, I hasten to add.  And I’m late, I know; my posts come out on Wednesdays. STILL, this seems a “better late than never” opportunity. So here we go. As I write this on Monday night, I see that over $300,000,000 in gifts has… more »
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Featured image for How National Is Our Thanksgiving Meal? - Image Source at https://i2.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/November-30-2005-042.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1
Norman Rockwell shows us one way to celebrate Thanksgiving. There’s an interesting backstory to this painting, which I’ll share quickly. This is one of “The Four Freedoms,” paintings inspired by FDR’s 1941 State of the Union address. All four — Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear  — were wildly popular… more »
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Featured image for A New Look At Time - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EST1.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1
On November 4 it’ll be time to turn our clocks again — Jet lag without the hassle of airplane security and cramped seats. I can hardly wait. Those of you who have followed me for awhile know I have done bi-annual rants against changing our clocks (in either direction; it matters little) in the hope… more »
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Featured image for Happy Anniversary, Woody - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/16th-anniversary.jpg?fit=300%2C230&ssl=1
Today, October 10, marks our 25th anniversary. Not our wedding anniversary, that hits 19 today, and who celebrates 19?  Not us. But 25 years ago (yes, we chose our wedding date so we could keep celebrating the same date we’d been celebrating) Woody and I met face-to-face for the first time.  I remember it clearly.… more »
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Featured image for We the People - Image Source at https://i1.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/askideas.jpeg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1
Welcome to my post celebrating US Constitution Day, officially September 17, the date the document was signed in 1787.   Did you even know we had a Constitution Day?  I didn’t.  But we do, so let’s take a look at it; it’s pretty fundamental to our lives, believe it or not. First, think for a… more »
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