There once was a time I didn’t celebrate Christmas. One of the requirements of religious commitment is religious indoctrination. Once that bubble is burst, all of the energy invested in religious identity explodes as if waking up from a dream. When I became aware of all of the propaganda invested in making Christmas what it is for Christians, I responded at first by refusing to observe the ritual.
Now, I celebrate Christmas all year round….and find much more meaning and power in celebrating the Christ presence, He who is called Emanuel – God is with us, and all the richness and sentiment remembered from my childhood, not just for a couple days in December but all the time.
Still, there is tremendous joy in sharing the specialness of the season with others, especially family. The occasion allows for a kind of social and spiritual catharsis, very much like the feeling in the wake of a major hurricane or natural disaster. I have often taken notice the difference in disposition after a major national crisis, where life, limb and all the structures that make our civilization habitable are shaken.
Neighbors who were not on speaking terms now say hello and inquire how much damage you experienced. Strangers are talkative and helpful. Everybody develops an instant disposition of generosity. Even looters are generous with their plunder. It’s as if all our aloofness and what Jamaican people call ‘badmind’ is a luxury afforded by our comfort and security, which once threatened, we immediately see the wisdom of the virtues of kindness, unity, social cohesion and togetherness.
Well if it takes a special holiday to produce that, without our roofs being blown away, and our survival being brought into question, then so be it. Christmas is when we push the reset button on life, abandon a lot of our learned adult behaviour and become children again.
I’ve recently learned one of the explanations for the natural resilience of children, a thing I’ve always noticed and admired. Children for the most part are in an Alpha state of consciousness, not the logical Beta consciousness typified by adults. The dream state of Alpha, for those who are familiar with consciousness studies, allows children to be more creative, more resilient, more forgiving, more innocent. They aren’t aware of consequences. They are living in the moment: Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.
Life and time complicate things. We all do need a time and space to push the reset button and remember the mindspace of our childhood; To simply undo all of the collected trauma, pain, treachery, injustice, abuse, neglect, and the learned defenses that go with them, and the not so nice but necessary (or so we believe) coping mechanisms we employ to weather our storms.
The story of the Christ child, and the angels announcing those messages only a child can believe (they are nonsense to the logical adult) we begin if even for a brief moment to allow ourselves to believe “Peace on earth, Goodwill to all mankind”.
Jesus did say, only by becoming like little children can we perceive or participate in the kingdom of heaven. Well, if we only have the strength and fortitude to have and keep that childlike faith for a few days in December, it’s better than nothing.
I wish everyone a Happy Christmas season and refreshing of energies and hope you find that place of REST to RESET. I also remind you all that that place of REST is available in Christ every day of the year. May you find eternal rest in Him, whom to know is life everlasting. (Sometimes we have to sound cliche to be understood…if even in part).
Blessings to everyone. You were created the embodiment of Love….and that still is who we really are even when we lose our pureness and the memory of innocence. By the mercy of Christ, may we all find our way past guilt, fear, shame, hurt, pain, unforgiveness, offense, anger, jealousy, and sorrow; back home to bliss.
Have a joy-filled Christmas…..and for as much of 2019 as you can stand.
YeKengale
YeKengalé 