Season’s Greetings! My wish for you is that the Christmas season is a time of great joy and peace.
As for myself, the frenzy of Christmas hype has given me cause for reflection and I’ve been pondering what it means for so many people nowadays. I’ve been an observer of the mad last minute rush to do the obligatory shopping, spending money that lots really can’t afford, parents feeling the pressure to give gifts that will break the budget but are expected because other people’s kids will be getting whatever is the latest craze. And worse still for the parents that can’t afford the food, let alone gifts for their kids. For the parents who have lost children, it’s a tough time. It’s not an easy time either for the shop assistants who are often on the receiving end of people’s stress. Just this week I witnessed lots of angry, impatient, agitated people without, it seemed, much Christmas spirit. Even those people I heard say “Merry Christmas” appeared to say it because it was expected of them, not from heartfelt sincerity. I’ve ventured out into the traffic to the tune of horns tooting and impatient drivers taking risks so they can get a car park in the overcrowded shopping centres and I wonder why we do this. I wonder if it has always been this way and I just never noticed before, or have we lost the magic?
Traditionally the reason we have Christmas celebrations is to commemorate the birth of Christ, one of the master 
prophets sent to us to bring the message of peace, love and joy. I have realised now that if I want to connect with Christ consciousness, I can do it any day of the year, not just on 25th December. We put so much expectation on that one day a year and instead of honouring the real spirit of Christmas, it becomes a source of stress. No doubt for the fortunate people who will be spending the day with loved ones, sharing the feast it’s an opportunity to get together to spend quality time together, it’s a fun day. However, it can also bring up unresolved differences and ‘baggage’ from the past and so it can be challenging for some because we all so much want the ‘chocolate box’ family that we think everyone else has and disappointment sets in when we realise it’s not going to be that way. And what about the people we only communicate with at Christmas? Should we be making more effort to keep in touch throughout the year?
I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones. I have food for the table, good friends and my partner to share it with, family to phone, and gifts to share, but this won’t be the case for so many others and my heart goes out to them. It can be the toughest, loneliest time for some because it highlights the contrasts between the haves and the have-nots. It intensifies the feelings of grief and loss.
Perhaps Christmas for you is a time to take a break, have some ‘down time’, to get away from the daily routine and make some plans for the future. If you take a step back, keep it simple, reflect and do what you want to do at Christmas, rather than what you think is expected of you, it could alleviate so much stress and pressure.
I wonder what would happen if we all embraced the Christmas spirit every day. If instead of rushing to the shops and maxing out the credit card for that one day a year, we lived that spirit of kindness and caring, of peace and harmony, forgiveness love and joy every day in all of our actions and interactions. Our world would be a very different place.
This Christmas, if you’re one of the lucky ones, it will be wonderful if you can spare a thought or consider sending a prayer to others less fortunate and if you get the opportunity to show some kindness, it’ll be the greatest gift for you and for the receiver.
However you’re spending this time, from the bottom of my heart I wish you the blessings of peace, harmony, love, joy, good health and abundance throughout the festive season and throughout every day of the coming year. May peace be with you.
Merry Christmas.