Merry Christmas, Readers · 10:04pm Dec 23rd, 2017
I love this time of year. Even when it's rough. Even when it's difficult.
Why? Well, probably because it's one of the few times each year where people feel a bit more—I don't know, free?—about being nice to one another.
Reasons for this vary. For me, personally, it's because it's the time of year when Christians celebrate the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and remember what He brought into the world. Which, personally, encompasses quite a bit, from family to the age old adage "Peace on Earth, good will toward men." The ultimate gift.
Others have picked out bits and pieces of that feeling, and you know what? That's fine too. For them, Christmas is hot chocolate and a kind word to a stranger. A smile to those they pass on the street.
I love this time of year. Lights, gifts, good will. Giving thanks.
Sure, I know that last one is usually thought of as a Thanksgiving thing, so how about I call it being grateful instead. Reflecting upon Christmas, the birth of Christ, and everything else that bundles up this season really does end up in my mind making me grateful for a great many things. Despite the trials and difficulties of my year, there are many things that I can still be grateful for. My warm apartment, for instance. Still head and shoulders above my old apartment, and warm during this cold season. The continuing sales of my books (that one's a double, as I'm grateful they're selling, and readers are grateful they're awesome!). I'm grateful that my knee is healing, and that I can walk.
Point is, Christmas is a season where, as a whole, most of us feel encouraged to think about the things we're grateful for, and then maybe go out of one's way to perhaps bolster that feeling in others. We look to the ideal of Christmas, this meaning that's collected from sources such as A Christmas Carol (a timeless classic, that one) and based on the birth of a tiny child roughly two-thousand years ago—a birth that sages and wise men had looked forward to for thousands of years, and that mankind now looks back to so much later—for goodwill, peace, and good feelings. We embrace them, hold them ... and then if we're wise, go out and share them with others.
Which ... I guess is what I'm really getting at. I'm grateful for the many blessings that have hit my life this year (yes, even despite all the hardships). And I hope that wherever you are, readers, whatever your situation, your circumstances, or location, you've got a bit of good will in your life.
Merry Christmas, readers. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you too!
Blessed Christmas and a great time for you and everyone else as well from me and the brothers from Stiftung Kloster Dambeck.