Dear Friends,
When Christmas is over how do you feel? Rested? Relaxed? Full of the Joy of the Season? I read in one of my devotions today, “If we were in touch with the meaning of Advent and Christmas we would find ourselves overflowing with a Yes to the answer to those questions.” I wonder.
This is a time of year when you can be caught in a double bind. We know what we are supposed to feel, but rarely do we feel that way. We actually feel just the opposite. We have missed the meaning of the Season and because it is our fault we feel guilty about it. That is the double bind we can get caught up in. I say enough already! If we are ever to understand the meaning of the Season we need to listen to ourselves, good or bad.
What is stopping us from feeling rested, relaxed and full of joy? Maybe we are not rested because we have been doing a lot. Is that all right? Is it acceptable to be feel tired? The Christmas Season is one in which we are very active. It is meant for getting together with those we love. We have a bit of time to recover now before the Mardi Gras Season. But maybe we also need to rest from the time we spend with those who are not easy to get along with. We can relax with the fact that some people are just a pain in the …….. No matter how much we try to make it otherwise for them they can never accept Christmas isn’t all we hope it would be. Even worse they simply look for things to pick on related to what we have done or haven’t done. If we can let go of the feeling that somehow we are responsible for what they say, I’ll bet we will not feel as tired. Resting in the Lord can sometimes mean accepting things and people as they are without having to change them. By acting in that way we might even see a miracle or two happening in our relationship with that troublesome person. Don’t count on it; just keep and eye open for God at God’s Best. To relax after all is to let life happen.
What about the fact we don’t feel very joyful? Sometimes we can have a very good reason for not feeling joyful at this time of year. A loved one may have died during this Season. Any anniversary of a death can be challenging. It doesn’t matter how many years have passed , we remember the death again. This can be extremely difficult now because we are supposed to be joyful, BUT we aren’t. Pay attention to why not. Listen to your heart. Be kind to yourself. Even if a loved one died at another time of the year we miss them, especially if they were a Christmas type person. If we let ourselves be who we are we may join God in feeling Joy through eyes and spirits filled with tears.
A New Year is about to begin. God only knows what this year will hold for us, but if we hold ourselves during the trying times or let God hold us as we are, we may find this year restful relaxing and full of joy no matter what happens.
Peace,
Gary