The word Christmas conjures up different feelings, thoughts, memories and meaning in all of us. The mere mention of Christmas can send some of us into a complete panic, others into a state of euphoric anticipation.
Leaving aside all the hype and commercialism of Christmas that has slowly engulfed this day over the past centuries. Christmas as a stand alone day in our year has enormous power over us mere mortals;
The power to acknowledge our religious beliefs, if only for one day. The power to mend family ties and to create new family rifts. The power to reinforce our love or dread of family, friends and acquaintances. The power to embody us in the above mention euphoric feelings or plunge us into a feeling of complete depression.
Christmas has the power to invoke the majority of recallable memories. "Oh, I remember one Christmas when...." so-n-so did this or that or this or that happened. These memories can usually be recalled with vivid detail. I don't know any other day of celebration in our year that can produce this quantity or quality.
As kids, the mere mention of the word Christmas made us wide-eyed and full of excitement. Innocently, it was all about the presents and the attention. As we matured to teen age it was still about receiving presents but also experiencing the joy of giving. Maturing further, it's less about receiving and more on the obsession of the amount and perfection of the giving. The joy may be still there but the process to create it is less than joyful.
To spend this one day of the year alone, more than any other, must be soul destroying. For, apart from all hype, expense and hassle, we need Christmas. It reinforces that we are human and need to express love and friendship, compassion, loyalty, the feeling of belonging and of human contact. It's a catalyst for release that we have made it through another year and a fresh start is only a week away. It is the one day of the year that the majority of the world unites with a single thought.
Dickens when he penned; A Christmas Carol, did not write a mere children's story. He knew the power this day has on his fellow humans. He knew the power this day has for reflection of the past, present & future. He used it's power to teach his lesson.
So what ever Christmas means to you, may it's power be shared to you and yours from me and mine.
Leaving aside all the hype and commercialism of Christmas that has slowly engulfed this day over the past centuries. Christmas as a stand alone day in our year has enormous power over us mere mortals;
The power to acknowledge our religious beliefs, if only for one day. The power to mend family ties and to create new family rifts. The power to reinforce our love or dread of family, friends and acquaintances. The power to embody us in the above mention euphoric feelings or plunge us into a feeling of complete depression.
Christmas has the power to invoke the majority of recallable memories. "Oh, I remember one Christmas when...." so-n-so did this or that or this or that happened. These memories can usually be recalled with vivid detail. I don't know any other day of celebration in our year that can produce this quantity or quality.
As kids, the mere mention of the word Christmas made us wide-eyed and full of excitement. Innocently, it was all about the presents and the attention. As we matured to teen age it was still about receiving presents but also experiencing the joy of giving. Maturing further, it's less about receiving and more on the obsession of the amount and perfection of the giving. The joy may be still there but the process to create it is less than joyful.
To spend this one day of the year alone, more than any other, must be soul destroying. For, apart from all hype, expense and hassle, we need Christmas. It reinforces that we are human and need to express love and friendship, compassion, loyalty, the feeling of belonging and of human contact. It's a catalyst for release that we have made it through another year and a fresh start is only a week away. It is the one day of the year that the majority of the world unites with a single thought.
Dickens when he penned; A Christmas Carol, did not write a mere children's story. He knew the power this day has on his fellow humans. He knew the power this day has for reflection of the past, present & future. He used it's power to teach his lesson.
So what ever Christmas means to you, may it's power be shared to you and yours from me and mine.
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