The meaning of Christmas

Although the weather is unseasonably warm here, in Southern Alabama,, Christmas is approaching fast and with Christmas, the memory of magical moments of years past.
During this season, our feelings of connectivity are heightened, we feel bonded more closely with family and the world around us.
This may be due to a deeper  awareness of the connection all of us have, within our own heart and soul, to the One who came over 2,000 years ago to teach us about love, about reaching out and helping others, about experiencing life more abundantly. John 10:10 says: " "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly". What a wonderful and loving motivation: he came that we may live life more abundantly!
The awareness of Jesus' legacy awakens in us a desire to be more like him: to put that love, that aliveness, that abundance in practice, even if it is just for this season.  What if that desire to be more like him were awakened beyond the Christmas season, what if it became a way of life to give, to share, to reach out, to be a human family instead of an agglomeration of strangers?


During the Christmas season, it feels like the walls that separate us are down: the spirit of the Christ Child, the spirit of the promise of deliverance from suffering and sorrow is again palpable: we feel renewed hope of a better future, we feel empowered to start the new year with a vision that is rooted more deeply in our soul.
We are also remembering how precious each life is: how much one person can make a difference. Emperors have come and gone, heads of state have come and gone, none came even close to change the world like Christ did. They may have amassed land and riches, made their country great and powerful for a few years or decades but this also has passed, as all earthy things do.
Christ came to change us on the level of the soul, of the heart. He came to increase our awareness of our eternal life, that goes beyond the temporary physical existence.
He taught about compassion and forgiveness and the importance of loving and helping others, as we do ourselves. His example still touches lives today even though his life on earth was short-lived.
Shouldn't his example encourage us to make better use of our own time: make life richer in heart and more abundant in love, make our connections to others deeper and more meaningful, feel the sacredness of each moment and look inward and upward for answers when we feel stuck or need direction just like Christ did: "Thy will be done."
With all the self-help industry in full bloom nowadays and books about abundance and prosperity filling up the bookstore shelves, what better advice would anyone have that surpassed: "Thy will be done."? There is no greater thought, no greater offering of the heart but this heavenly bowing to the will of the Divine and the undeniable trust that He knows better that we do.
There is no greater or better way to "help oneself" than to strive continuously to merge our thoughts, desires, goals and energy with the One who created us and who has our best destiny in mind and heart.
All this, and more, we remember during this Christmas season.
Wishing all those who read this blog a very merry Christmas!
Doris Crompton