Each year around this time of year, the whole world gets sentimental. It becomes habitual and kind to wish perfect strangers well and to carry our hearts on our sleeves as we smile giddy from the smell of fresh baked cookies and the anticipation of the perfect gift, wrapped in a bow just for us. Rarely do the troubles of the world, the bills we have to pay, the strife in our families or the irritations that keep us hurried and angry the rest of the year interfere with our chance to merry and bright. Why? Because unequivocally, this is the way that we are intended to be.
Whether you are a Christian or no, whether you celebrate Christmas or not – the energy of this time of year is palpable no matter where your beliefs or traditions hide. Like our ancient ancestors who looked forward to all the greatness that was to come, we look to New Years and beyond with a child like hope and wonder – that things will be better and that we are being given a second chance to live and to love. The warmness and festiveness of the world seeps into the hearts of people and makes them feel and understand joy in ways that escape most of us during the regular rat race world we live in.
There are so many theories about what the future holds for the world, but it seems that witnessing the magic of the Christmas season and the easy transition that the world can make from being angry to being a creature of love just goes to show that the meaning of Christmas is about leaving room to remember what our divine purpose in this world really is. Sure, your mother in law and sister in law are going to drive you crazy, the kids will be unappreciative and their will likely be familial relations that tear us back to our own thwarted childhoods – but at the same time we are living, breathing and experiencing our worlds without hunger, without war, without poverty, without illness and without restraint from accepting love.
The meaning of Christmas has changed over the years and is now looked at by so many as a commercialized celebration taken over by big business in the hopes of revitalizing the economy. So be it. What it really seems to do is revitalize the human spirit and soul. As we search for presents for loved one and others, we are forced to take a walk in their world, in their shoes for just a moment. It is there that we see a porcelain angel parked in the candy aisle that we realize this person is in fact an angel in our lives. Then the gift is bought and the heart is sealed with remembrance and gratitude.
As we invite friends and family over to our homes, we are beaming with pride for what we have. As we wake up to watch our families gather and corral around a Christmas tree there are fleeting feelings of being blessed in so many ways. As we prepare food for our bodies, we are nourishing our souls with togetherness and love. Watching a child walk through the snow with lights from store windows reflecting on their faces is more priceless than any piece of art work every created and allowing our bodies and minds to be a conductor of love in this time of year – has the power to join humans like no other. So, whether or not the Wal-Marts and Barneys of the world are making a ton of money on our feeling pressured to buy and spend is a non-issue! Maybe what they are really doing is part of a bigger plan to unite, reunite and renew our hearts and spirit with a kind of feeling that only comes once a year. Perhaps mankind has gotten to such a point that this is the only way humans like us will ever really be able to figure out the meaning of Christmas in our own lives.
What if, instead of settling for this feeling, this way of life just once a year – we decided to live every moment of every day in this light? As you wish those you love and those you don’t know Merry Christmas, take a look at the ultimate power your positive mood, emotion and light have to change not just your own world, but the world around you! Because unequivocally, this is the way we are intended to be!
Merry Christmas
