Too Much Christmas?
When I walked into my local Michael’s store in September I was surprised to see the beginnings of Christmas displays. It was too soon. Then by Halloween, there were Christmas and Holiday displays everywhere. It was too soon. Somewhere in November, Thanksgiving seemed to be passed over completely in stores to make room for MORE Christmas and Holiday displays. It still seemed too soon. On November 1st I went into an Office Depot and they were playing Christmas music; I told the manager that IT WAS TOO SOON!
Along the way we went from concerns about decorating to the panic of gift buying and giving, cyber Monday, wrapping gifts, mailing gifts, holiday cards, holiday parties (both professional and personal), school events, cookie bakes, family gatherings, and the list goes on and on. Everything seems to be happening too soon! Everything that is, except Peace on Earth, Good will toward men. And that can’t happen soon enough, can it?
The message of the season is that Peace has come in human form. The peace we long for is found in the birth of a child who would become the Prince of Peace. With that gift we are given the opportunity to live in peace, to offer peace, to work for peace.
I read a quote recently by Bill Bullard:
“Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self-kind of understanding.”
That is how Peace came to us—with a profound purpose larger than the self-kind of understanding. It is how we can live in peace, with a profound purpose larger than ourselves. Our sacrifice of self and what “I” want, need, deserve, opens us to a whole new experience of something bigger than ourselves. With that kind of Peace, can good will toward men be far behind?
This Peace doesn’t end when the celebrations are over and the decorations are put away. This peace is just beginning and every day we have the opportunity to grow into it more fully and deeply.
So from all of us at Family Private Care, we wish you and yours the gift of Peace this Christmas Season. It is truly the gift that has no expiration or limits. May it grow in you and through you.
By Rev. Jeana Fortenberry
Chaplain
Family Private Care Services
