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Merry Christmas!
Long ago and far away, the reason for the season was born. He was a humble man, born in a stable. Life for him was simple. His message was clear, free from complications, and full of love for mankind.
But as we look at the Christmas Season today, it is filled with so many things to do that we drop into bed exhausted by the day’s activities and expectations. Have you ever stopped to think about why?
It should be time filled with good memories, moments of love and good will shared with others we care about. However, it is often a time of great stress, both personally and financially. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why that happens? It is a time filled with overdone to-do lists, stressed out, short breathing, and exhaustion. Does that sound merry? Nope.
When was the last time you took time for yourself to stop and enjoy the fleeting moments of your life? How are you breathing? Is it short and from the chest? Or is it relaxed and coming from the stomach, filling your lungs with life-giving oxygen?
Yes, it is a time for celebrating other people in your life. Does it come from expensive gifts you cannot afford? Or is it gifts from the heart, no matter how small? Is it baked goods, cooked with a happy heart, sharing of your energies and time? Do you stop to actually listen to others? Sometimes, that is the greatest gift of all. People in our world are crying out to know they exist. Is it a smile or a shoulder to cry on?
Life can be so much simpler if you let it be that. Look hard at your to-do lists. Examine them carefully. Is each item coming from a heart brimming with joy or expectations? Hope for a better world, no matter how small an action?
Your attitude of gratitude is necessary from beginning to end. Do you spend even five minutes of your day being grateful for the good in your life? This is vital to your well-being.
It is the way you give a gift and not the gift itself, after all. It is an expression of the love, appreciation, and joy that the gift is given. It is not the amount of money spent on it, but the act itself of remembering.
They say that the first gift you buy should be one for yourself. Do you do that? Have you ever done it?
This is the most beautiful time of year, filled with so much to be thankful for: Eyes that see, ears that hear, taste buds that celebrate the many delights of food made especially during this season, and the touch of others – be it an elbow bump, a hug, or a massage.
Remember: Life is so precious. Take time for yourself so you can relax into the season. Do not overextend your energy levels. Do what you can do each day, and do it with a happy heart filled with the joy of life. What more could you ask of yourself? That takes deep breathing, which goes away with the first moment of stress and anxiety. Stop and query: Is this act/gift, etc., really necessary? If exhaustion is a factor, take care of yourself first, not last. We only get so much energy to spend each day. Make each detail of your day count towards that end. Life will go on, whether you drop into bed at night, still filled with the stresses of the day, or if you relax before going to bed, counting the blessings of the day.
Life can be so much simpler if you put some thought into it. Are you willing?
Warmest wishes for the happiest of Holiday Seasons!
Hope Strengthens and Enables
A life without Hope is like a broken-winged bird that cannot fly!
Langston Hughes poem “Dreams” says it well:
“Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
“Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.”
Dreams and hopes go hand in hand daily. Where one is, you will find the other.
Daily life has alterably changed. Where once one could see forever and think change is just a choice, daily life for the whole world has now been transmuted. But if you look carefully, you will see that one still has choices in what thoughts to think, what ideas to concentrate on, and what actions to take.
Know this: Outside stimuli cannot demand what response one takes. Yes, we can just REACT, but we can also choose to ACT after considering our many options. Life goes on, and so must we.
One can choose HOPE that enables good thoughts to come forth. Out of those thoughts, options multiply. Isn’t that worth the effort on your part?
Carpe Diem
The literal translation of carpe diem is “pluck the day,” referring to the gathering of moments like flowers and suggesting the ephemeral quality of life. Commonly understood as “seize the day,” the Latin phrase originated in the “Odes,” a long series of poems composed by the Roman poet Horace in 65 B.C.E
What better way to approach each and every day?
God’s blessings upon your journey!
No Room at the Inn
The Christmas story, as told in Luke 2:7 states: “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the Inn.”
The first part of that sentence — all the way up through “manger” captures our attention. But I would like to draw your attention to the last words in the sentence: “…no room for them in the Inn.”
During the Christmas season, busyness rules many people’s lives, dictating a hurry and scurry that tires the body and soul. There are lists to make, gifts to buy and wrap, cards to get ready to mail, parties to attend, and festivities/programs to partake of. All of these are great and useful.
But what if you stopped to think about your life and heart as a manger where the Christ child could rest?
Are you moving so fast to participate in all your activities that there is no quiet time to speak of the manger and what it could mean to you?
Is your life like the Inn where there is no room for the ideas of faith, peace, love, hope and joy – the quintessence of the Christmas Spirit?
Whoa! Slow down! Breathe deeply now.
Every day, your brain, heart, and body need to take the time for your own good in order to make room in your being for focusing on the qualities that make up the quintessence of the Christmas Spirit — the Faith which helps you along your way, the stillness of Peace, the Love of self and others, the Hope of a better day, and the Joy of life and more livingness daily.
It would only take a few minutes, but if you choose to spend that time, the gifts that will bring will last all day long. Are you willing?
God’s blessing be upon you and your journey! Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!
Manger of the Heart
Faith
Bring you tidings of great Joy!
Blessings Be Upon You!
Peaceful Sunset
Our Thoughts Our Angels Are
“Our Thoughts Our Angels Are.”
This axiom, worded like Yoda in Star Wars, has guided me for many years. It quiets my mind, calms my emotions, and reaffirms my connection to the God I believe in.
God, after all, is not afar off. Nor is He capable of ever giving a “busy signal” when I am dialing in with a prayer. I do not have to consider the idea of my unworthiness in order to seek His Guidance.
Long, long ago in a galaxy (life) far, far away, I was raised to be a good Catholic because my mother was raised by Catholic nuns. My father was a Methodist, but he died two days before my 8th birthday. So I was raised in the only way my mother knew: Catholic to the core. I could not only spell unworthiness, but I knew guilt for never, ever being perfect. In fact, I knew I could never do anything right. It was not a possibility for me. I attended many versions of Baptist theology for a lot of years. It came as quite a surprise to me a few years ago to find out that I was actually Catholic at my core.
Over the millennia (or so it has seemed to me, sometimes), I evolved. I found out that I was a Child of God. I was, and am, and always will be guided by the gentle, loving Father who helps me always along my chosen path. That is why I take His Hand every morning before my feet ever touch the floor, because together we proceed into each day.
So what has all this to do with my axiom, “Our Thoughts Our Angels Are?”
Thoughts create emotions which drive the engine of our being. These emotions, if they be positive in nature, aid us in our growth. But if they be negative, we are torn asunder. So you need to ask yourself, “Do I want to grow and become all that I am meant to be? Or do I want to remain in this chaos where hope and love cannot survive?”
Yes, you can choose what thoughts and emotions you cogitate on, for they are the gasoline for your spiritual engine. If you want to change your life, you have to look at what that consists of for you right now, and decide to begin anew. Each day is a fresh page. What will you write on it? It is all up to you.
We often look to Heaven and the God we believe in for assistance with Life’s problems and scenarios. But do you ever look within to your thoughts and emotions? Are you listening for answers as you continually recreate the chaos in your life, beseeching, pleading a God who appears to not respond? What are you looking for — rescue so the pain will end? If you are looking for that, you will have a long wait, my friend.
God’s blessings upon your journey!
Cloud Angel
The question is: What do you perceive? Do you see the angel? Or is it just a wisp of a cloud, without meaning? The same is true of thoughts and emotions. What are you thinking and feeling?
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