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Today's
Meditation:
Christmas
really is for children, isn't it? The mystery, the
build-up, the anxious waiting for gifts, the great
stories-- all combine to provide a perfect setting for the
child's imagination to take flight, for her or his sense
of wonder to be ignited and burn brightly. The sad
thing is that all of us are still children at heart--
everything that we used to be is still present in us-- but we don't allow that child-like sense of wonder to
make the holidays brighter and more fascinating for
us. We can, though, and as Laura says, rekindling
our child-like side can help us to be better people all
year long.
It's
hard to say just how this might work. Perhaps seeing
the people we love through a child's eyes for a few days
can help us to understand just how special they are, and
we can keep treating them as special people even when it
isn't Christmastime. Maybe the gratitude that we
feel for that very special gift that someone gives us can
stick with us, and we can live each day in thankfulness
because of the special gifts of love that we've
received. Maybe just reminding ourselves that that
child-like side of ourselves isn't dead and gone can help
us to access that side each day, and to find the wonder in
each day of the year.
No
matter how it may be explained, though, it may be a good
idea to try to let that child that you are loose this
Christmas. Love the things that you experience
simply because they are, not for what you get from
them. Let yourself get caught up in singing
Christmas carols, take your time wrapping presents and
getting them ready for those you love. Ask for
something whimsical this Christmas. Get up early on
Christmas day and look at the tree with all the presents
underneath it and try to guess what's in those that you
don't know. Open your gifts and love what's inside
them, even if they're not quite what you expected.
We
can take Christmas with us all year long if we want to,
but it has to be something really worth carrying around if
it's to last. And Christmas is what we make it, not
what others make it. We all know that children make
Christmas much more special than anyone else does, so
let's allow our child-like side to shine this holiday
season so that we can make Christmas something that's very
worth taking with us all the year, so that we and the
people we love can still benefit from the ways that we
make Christmas special each year.
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