Christmas is Nothing

Prologue

Christmas is the only holiday that we are forced to celebrate even if we believe nothing about it. It is heralded by stampedes at big-box stores for supposed essential tools for our way of life. It is pervasive and omnipresent; a sort of cultural celebration of pure and holy aspirations with large doses of nostalgia and kitsch. ​​ We murmur "Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Seasons Greetings" over and over in a​​ cultural​​ litany of​​ good​​ cheer. ​​ While considered to be an essentially Christian holiday, it has its roots in pagan celebrations and retains many of those elements. ​​ Even some Christians consider most of the stories to be myths; important but none the less mythical stories recited by bards and handed down over millennia. ​​ In the end Christmas takes over everything, makes us frantic, pretends to be important but can leave us wore out, financially stretched and disappointed. ​​ If we miss the point, it can seem to be nothing.

christmas is nothing

christmas is nothing

 if it is not about Connections;

 be they ​​ friends , family or random encounters.

 Connections that touch us at the core​​ 

 of our very being​​ 

 and cause a lump​​ 

 to rise in our throat.

christmas is nothing

 if it is not about Beauty; ​​ 

 expressions of inspiration​​ 

 created just for the sheer joy of ​​ finding​​ 

 new forms and ​​ new views of old ones. ​​ 

 It is a Beauty that lasts​​ 

 Over​​ the passage of time.

 It is not a fleeting image​​ 

 of a fad or of lust​​ 

 but a deep and abiding essence.

christmas is nothing

 If it is not about a new Birth;

 a Birth within us to be​​ 

 more than we are today.​​ 

 A determination

 to add to ourselves what we have

 been missing and longing for.

 A Birth of new ways of living

 out our days and hours.

christmas is nothing

 If is not about Moments;

 Moments that reach inside us

 causing our hearts to swell​​ 

 and our eyes to tear up a little.

 Moments that bring us to a​​ 

 world of wonder and love.

 Moments that will echo over and over  ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

 within us in the coming months.

christmas is nothing

 If it is not about Light;

 Light that brings warmth

 and illumination to the path  ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

 that we are walking.

 Light that compels us to reach for it,

 further than we have ever reached before.  ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

 Light that is so intense that

 it is felt more than seen.

christmas is nothing

 If is not about Mystery;

 a wonder and ​​ an awe​​ 

 at the darkness​​ 

 out of which all these elements come. ​​ 

 A ​​ Mystery that causes us to stop​​ 

 and peer into that great unknown

 and know that it is not about nothing.