Christmas is upon us. The commercials and commercialism are all around. To truly let someone know you love them you must spend lots of money. To know you are loved you must receive gifts, lots of gifts. The bigger the better. Families are supposed to gather around a full table joyfully.
Peace on earth.
Yet for many, Christmas is anything but peaceful. It is sometimes the biggest reminder of hurts, loss, poverty, worry, stress and broken families. Somewhere along the way life became more real than any commercial can fix.
A friend and I jokingly decided to start a happy shitty Christmas club. Yes, I swore. Because sometimes that is the best way to describe life at the moment. Disappointments happen. People let us down. Life takes turns we did not expect. Often those turns can be very hurtful and hard to recover from.
I have not had a Christmas tree for years. I love this season. As a Christian it is one of the most significant to my faith. Yet as a Christian, I do not feel the need to express the importance of the celebration with gifts and a tree. It was also a reminder of what I did not have when society around me says I should be waking up to a day filled with presents, family and a large meal. I wake up to a house on my own. I love it. Yet for some reason at this time of year I feel it is not enough.
Actually, it is more than enough. So I am reclaiming Christmas as I want to define it. I have many incredible blessings in my life. I have family I love more than I can say. Most just don't live really close to see often. I have the best friends a person could ask for. They make me laugh. They let me cry when I need to. They listen. They trust me. They inspire me. They encourage me. They help me when I need it. They let me help them. They share their burdens with me. They honour me. They bless me. And they do it all in abundance.
This all reminds me of the meaning of life - in my opinion. The short version of the Westminster Catechism states that the chief end of man is "to glorify God and enjoy him forever." I believe a part of glorifying God for me is to love, honour and bless those around me.
The purpose of my blog is not to preach. My hope is to inspire and let people know they are not alone. Often few people comment on what I write. Yet when they do, they share how it has encouraged them.
I believe we can create peace on earth. I also believe it starts within me. Peace can be elusive when we allow others to define it for us. So instead of letting marketers or society or a commercial tell me what peace means, I will define it in terms of my life and my heart. I will create peace here and then try to cultivate that with others.
And for all those going through the hardest days of your life, let me say, you are not alone. I can also say you will get through this. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and take each day as it comes. You can have a merry Christmas if you define it according to your own life and not the one others want to dictate to you.
Peace on earth.
Yet for many, Christmas is anything but peaceful. It is sometimes the biggest reminder of hurts, loss, poverty, worry, stress and broken families. Somewhere along the way life became more real than any commercial can fix.
A friend and I jokingly decided to start a happy shitty Christmas club. Yes, I swore. Because sometimes that is the best way to describe life at the moment. Disappointments happen. People let us down. Life takes turns we did not expect. Often those turns can be very hurtful and hard to recover from.
I have not had a Christmas tree for years. I love this season. As a Christian it is one of the most significant to my faith. Yet as a Christian, I do not feel the need to express the importance of the celebration with gifts and a tree. It was also a reminder of what I did not have when society around me says I should be waking up to a day filled with presents, family and a large meal. I wake up to a house on my own. I love it. Yet for some reason at this time of year I feel it is not enough.
Actually, it is more than enough. So I am reclaiming Christmas as I want to define it. I have many incredible blessings in my life. I have family I love more than I can say. Most just don't live really close to see often. I have the best friends a person could ask for. They make me laugh. They let me cry when I need to. They listen. They trust me. They inspire me. They encourage me. They help me when I need it. They let me help them. They share their burdens with me. They honour me. They bless me. And they do it all in abundance.
This all reminds me of the meaning of life - in my opinion. The short version of the Westminster Catechism states that the chief end of man is "to glorify God and enjoy him forever." I believe a part of glorifying God for me is to love, honour and bless those around me.
The purpose of my blog is not to preach. My hope is to inspire and let people know they are not alone. Often few people comment on what I write. Yet when they do, they share how it has encouraged them.
I believe we can create peace on earth. I also believe it starts within me. Peace can be elusive when we allow others to define it for us. So instead of letting marketers or society or a commercial tell me what peace means, I will define it in terms of my life and my heart. I will create peace here and then try to cultivate that with others.
And for all those going through the hardest days of your life, let me say, you are not alone. I can also say you will get through this. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and take each day as it comes. You can have a merry Christmas if you define it according to your own life and not the one others want to dictate to you.
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