Mother Teresa said, “Every time you smile at someone and offer your hand, it is Christmas.”
How simple would life be if we could make every day of peace, a time for goodwill by simply offering our hand, a smile, a kindness toward another, a random person on the street, a cranky neighbor, anyone and everyone, with no exceptions?
Imagine if we became more aware, more present, at this time of year, about all the things we are doing, all the running around, or the things we are not doing at all, and in the doing and not doing, how much love are we putting in the doing or the not doing or are we numbed out and overwhelmed by the last few years of chaos, fear or the thought of losing
more loved ones or the sad state of Mother Earth.
How happy or joyful does this time of year make you feel, or do you think it is simply another day in your life that reinforces how lonely you are and how alone you are traveling this heroic journey attempting to find your way home.
Does any of this ‘stuff’ we are doing or not doing feel right? Does it make us feel good about ourselves, and does any of it fill that hole we are feeling, more so at this time of year?
For a few years, we really got hung up on whether we were offending non-Christians by wishing them a Merry Christmas, and then we were a bit out of sorts leaving the ‘Christ’ out at this season of peace and good will.
The word “Christmas” is, in truth, a shortened form of Christ’s Mass, which means to attend mass on the birth of the one we know as Jesus, who was ‘Christed.’ And what does the word Christ mean? It has nothing to do with Christianity: the Hebrew word for this king was Messiah, and means “the anointed (chosen) one.” Later, in the New Testament, the word Messiah was translated into the Greek word Christos. The English word Christ comes from this Greek word.
Lately, no one pays too much attention to what was once a real point of contention between a lot of people in using Season’s Greetings or Merry Christmas.
The spirit of Christmas prompts people to do loving things for others. It’s that season of loving and giving – not just to those we love, our families and friends, but for reaching out to those who have nothing to celebrate, because of their sad and sometimes desperate circumstances.
The glamour and glitter of today’s shopping malls and the so-called Christmas festivities in hotels, have nothing, really, to do with Christmas as we know, but we still enjoy the celebratory feeling it gives us, and people do seem kinder, more aware of others, and wishing even strangers to have a lovely Christmas or compliments of the Season.
“Every time someone reaches out to help another, THAT is Christmas. Every time someone puts anger aside and strives for understanding, THAT is Christmas.
Every time people forget their differences and realize their love for each other, THAT is Christmas.”
May this Christmas bring us closer to the spirit of human understanding, closer to genuine peace and reconciliation, closer to a recognition and acceptance of our common sense of humanity. No greater birthday present could we offer Him.
“To worship rightly is to love each other,
Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.”
I wish all of you to discover the Love and Light of who you truly are and know one thing, and one thing only, and that is that you are the very breath of the life of a ‘Christed’ being.
So practice, practice becoming conscious with each breath that you take in, and each breath that you exhale. Know that only love is real. You are that embodiment of love. You are that very embodiment of grace. It is time to celebrate the Joy of who you truly are, and that you are the peacebringers of the New Earth we have all been collectively dreaming of.
I love you all as you are part of me, and I am part of you. Thank you for reading my words.
