Today is Christmas around the world, and not everyone celebrates Christmas, so for them, today might be just another day. People who celebrate Christmas do so very differently. For some, it is about the birth of a child thousands of years ago and what that child means to their religion and beliefs. For some, it is about traditions, family, gifts, food and spending time together. For some it is a time of loneliness because they do not have people to spend their time with to give gifts to or receive from.
I am not sure what Christmas means to me today. I believe some of what I was taught as a child about the baby born sometime around this date in history. I do not believe it all. I do believe in people and their capacity for love. I believe that the God who sent that child, sent all of us, because that God is us. On Christmas, I like to give presents. I like to get presents, and more than that, I like to be with the people I love and to enjoy just being together, laughing, playing a game or just watching a movie. I think I would be like the Whos in Whoville, if I didn’t get presents. I would still be happy to have the people l love with me to share the time together. It’s not about the place or the things. It’s about being connected and sharing.
I wrote about expectations a few days ago. I am revisiting that idea today. Add with that the idea from yesterday. See with your heart. Try to understand if you can, and if you can’t love anyway. Love yourself, love your family, love strangers, and love your enemy. Expectations of ourselves and others can prevent us from loving each other and ourselves. We are all in this together and love is the only thing that will bring us through. It is all we are meant to learn. Not saying it is easy. If it were, we wouldn’t need to work so hard to learn it.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate today. For those who don’t, have a blessed day.
-Namaste