It’s Christmas time, &
Lucy comes in where Charlie Brown is standing & says, "Merry
Christmas, Charlie Brown. `Tis the season of peace on earth & good will
toward men. Therefore, I suggest we forget all our differences & love one
another."
Charlie Brown’s face lights
up. "That’s wonderful, Lucy. I’m so glad you said that. But why do we only
have to love each other at this time of year? Why can’t we love each other all
year long?"
Lucy thinks for a minute… and
then blurts out. "What are you,
Charlie Brown… some kind of a fanatic or something?"
So… Lucy gets it… at the only
level she can. Let’s take the good will
and the tolerance of the Christmas spirit, and put it in this small framework
that allows us to be accepting and open and loving to everyone from December
10th through December 25th. Maybe she
could even take it as far as New Years. But that’s Lucy’s limit. In fact, if you really know Lucy’s
personality… she would probably only make it through a few hours of peace and
good will. But we will give her the
benefit of the doubt and say - two whole weeks in December.
Now this isn’t just Lucy. We all know people who dust off their best
behavior once a year and bring it out around Christmas - people who are not usually all that
generous show up at our door with a plate of Christmas cookies or a gift – and
we have to catch ourselves so our jaws don’t drop open in amazement – much like
Charlie Brown’s must have. At that point
we have a choice… to realize that this is the best they are able to do in the
place they are in and to be grateful for their gesture – or to judge them as
somehow being less than us because they can’t seem to be as consistently
generous as we believe we are. If we’re
choosing to judge them in a negative way… are we really any more enlightened
than they are?
Lucy is doing the best she
can. Charlie Brown has a better idea –
but he probably won’t stand up for himself.
It’s not really in his nature. So
what can he do?
In New Thought teachings, if we hold a thought
in consciousness, it helps create that thought in others. So technically, if Charlie Brown continues to
hold the Christmas Spirit – the love and good will toward all men – in his
heart year around, he can help contribute to that consciousness even when Lucy
pulls that football out from in front of him every time. Not easy to keep your cool when you’re flat
on your back with all the wind knocked out of you… but it can be done. Like me breaking my toe, driving around with
only one headlight and a rear view mirror that just dangles – and actually
laughing out loud instead of working myself into a panic attack. We can keep a consciousness of love and
forgiveness all the time… if we practice until we get it right. That’s the essence of EZosophists – whether
they be the Christmas, Easter, Work, School, or Home variety. It really is easier and much more pleasant to
love than to panic… once you get in the habit.
Someone took I Corinthians 13 – the love
chapter in the Bible – and paraphrased it like this:
"If I decorate my house
perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do
not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the
kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and
arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my
family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup
kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do
not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with
shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on the peace and love for all that Jesus came to demonstrate for us, I have missed the
point.
Love stops the cooking to hug
the child.
Love sets aside the
decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried
and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's
home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids
to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to
those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. Video games
will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the
gift of LOVE will endure."
On this Christmas Eve, I welcome the presence
of Love and all of her helpers. Open our
minds and hearts to receive the intense power of Love. Give us the grace to fulfill our personal
missions as Love’s servants, messengers, and ministers. Help us to resist the many deaths of our
courage and joy. Give us the sanity to choose love again and again… even when
Lucy pulls that football away as always.
Deliver us from our fear and into the awareness of your safety. Bring peace to our restless hearts and lift
our spirits to the light. Encourage us
to create a joyful, anxiety-free, love-filled Holiday.
We, the EZosophists, do
hereby promise to enjoy ourselves this Christmas. We will resist the temptation to feel sorry
for ourselves and to buy into the seasonal depression. We realize that our thoughts are powerful and
that our sanity, peace of mind, and the presence of love depend on our choices. We therefore promise to turn our minds to
thoughts of joy, innocence and forgiveness.
We forgive our families for any insensitivity we might percieve. We forgive our friends for not living up to
our scripts by calling or sending gifts.
We practice unconditional love with ourselves, the people in traffic,
the people in line, our children, our neighbors and all those who believe
differently than ourselves. We promise
to allow Christmas to be the “merry end of Sacrifice.”
Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown – you are my
inspiration! And so it is. Namaste!
