According to various websites, listed below, today, July the 24th, is Tell An Old Joke Day. I’ll leave the following links for you to read more about the history and the meaning of this holiday.
So, without further ado, here’s an old joke. I hope you enjoy it.
What did the kid in first year at Catholic school say when asked why they kept walking next to the same person at school? “I was told I’m supposed to walk by Faith!”
While Eat Your Vegetables Day is currently celebrated mostly in the USA, I think its message is so important that it should become an international thing.
It is undeniable and scientifically-proven that vegetables and fruits are an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Thousands of studies conducted in the field of nutrition over the past decades have highlighted the benefits of a plant-based diet.
If you care about your body and want to improve your health, I recommend you increase your intake of fresh, organic vegetables and fruits. To learn more about Eat Your Vegetables Day, please visit the following websites:
Some ideas for celebrating Eat Your Vegetables Day are to include vegetables in all your meals today, and to visit your local farmer’s market and get some locally grown produce. If your schedule doesn’t allow it, plan to do so at your earliest convenience.
The idea of an International Day of Happiness was introduced to the United Nations back in 2011 by the advisor Jayme Illien, along with the United Nations’ New Economic Paradigm project and “happytalism”, which aim to change the way nations approach economic growth by focusing on “happytalism” over capitalism.
The day was founded in July of 2012 and was first observed in 2013. Its celebration is an acknowledgement of the importance and desirability of happiness in human life, and the need that happiness be incorporated into public policy.
Despite being a challenging concept to define, there is a general consensus that happiness broadly covers two key areas – how people feel in the present moment and how satisfied people are with their lives overall. Consequently, happiness can range from a sudden rush of intense emotion (such as joy or euphoria) to a much calmer and steadier sense of contentment.
For ideas on how to celebrate International Day of Happiness this year, check out the following websites:
On the 16th of January, 1786, soon after the United States of America came into existence as a sovereign nation, the Virginia General Assembly adopted Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. This statute then became the basis for what is known today as the First Amendment, which guarantees religious freedom to all people residing in the U.S.A..
Every year since that time, a statement is released on this same day by the president of the United States, officially proclaiming Religious Freedom Day.
Here is this year’s statement, made by president Donald Trump:
The Festival of Hanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a group of Jewish warriors defeated the occupying Greek armies, about 150 years before Jesus’ birth.
Central to the celebrations is the story that the Temple menorah (seven-lamped candelabrum) miraculously burned for over a week – even though they thought the had only one day’s worth of ritually pure oil left.
They used the extra week to purify themselves and were therefore able to maintain the sacred space.
I recommend watching the following video of Founded In Truth’s YouTube channel if you want to know whether Christians should celebrate Hanukkah:
On December the 1th 2020, Romania celebrates its 102nd Great Union Day. This national holiday marks the unification of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom in 1918.
There’s an unofficial Chinese holiday celebrated every year on the 11th of November (also known as 11 11 or Double 11) called Singles’ Day. It was started by online retailer Alibaba and you can read more about its history by clicking the links in this article. You can also learn about what it means for Chinese commerce here: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54876524. Its purpose is to celebrate the unattached, which makes it an antithesis to the romantically-involved on Valentine’s Day.
However, seeing how the holiday is not popular anywhere outside of China, I’m not going to talk about it, but rather I want to include a few videos about what it means to be single for a Christian. This is a selection of videos from Evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Enjoy!
Ben Stuart – Love the Single Chapter of Your Life
Steven Furtick – Singleness, sex and self-control
Kim Zember and Jackie Angel – The Right Way to Be Single
An initiative started by Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) in 2003, when Gary Schneider, an American visitor to Africa attending a church service in Zambia was moved by the pastor’s call to care for the numerous orphans in a local community plagued by hunger, poverty and AIDS, Orphan Sunday occurs each year as an opportunity for local churches and communities to rally together in response to God’s call to care for the orphaned and vulnerable.
By 2003, Schneider’s efforts to help the Zambian leaders take care of the Zambian orphans, had spread to the United States. Nowadays, the Christian Alliance includes more 150 respected ministries, and Orphan Sunday is celebrated in thousands of churches across the globe in over 50 nations.
Orphan Sunday is often called, “Zambia’s gift to the world” as a way of honoring the Zambian church Schneider had visited for the inspiration they gave people all over the world to care about the orphan.
Over the years, many different churches and organizations have hosted events they called, “Orphan Sundays” in an effort to raise awareness of the orphans in their areas, their problems and needs.
This year, Orphan Sunday is observed on the 8th of November. Read more about the holiday and find out ways to get involved in helping out by clicking the links below:
The Bible teaches us to love peace and to live in harmony. In the Beatitudes from The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus blessed the peacemakers and mentioned that they will be called “Sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
This is one of the reasons why I think that everyone, and Christians in particular, should observe Conflict Resolution Day, a global event intended to promote the concept of peaceful conflict resolution.
The ACR logo of the tree was designed as a symbol to celebrate growth in Conflict Resolution. The first year, start small, but, just like the tree, the seeds you plant one year, will continue to grow and blossom each year.
Conflict Resolution Day was conceived in 2005 by the ACR to:
Promote awareness of mediation, arbitration, conciliation and other creative, peaceful means of resolving conflict;
Promote the use of conflict resolution in schools, families, businesses, communities, governments and the legal system;
Recognize the significant contributions of (peaceful) conflict resolvers; and
Obtain national synergy by having celebrations happen across the country and around the world on the same day.
October has become a time to promote and celebrate peaceful conflict resolution practices worldwide. Dedicated dispute resolution practitioners are helping to educate the public about mediation and other innovative conflict management processes.
The Art of Listening presentation by Don Schapira for the Conflict Resolution Day Planning Committee
