{"id":164,"date":"2013-12-20T21:24:52","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T21:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lonniebuerge.com\/?p=164"},"modified":"2016-04-20T21:26:54","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T21:26:54","slug":"christmas-is-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lonniebuerge.com\/?p=164","title":{"rendered":"Christmas is Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.docxpressoPlugin {\n\tfont-size: 83.35%;\n}\n\n.h5p_layout {\n    box-sizing: content-box !important;\n}\n\n.h5p_layout *{\n    float: none;\n    text-align: initial;\n\tbox-sizing: border-box;\n}\n\/*to make sure that floating elements are always inside the document bounds*\/\n.h5p_layout:after {\n    content: \" \";\n    display: block;\n    height: 0;\n    clear: both;\n    visibility: hidden;\n}\n\/* a default layout for documents without maste styles *\/\n.h5p_default_layout {\n    margin-top: 3.6rem;\n    margin-left: 8.50464rem;\n    margin-bottom: 3.6rem;\n    margin-right: 8.50464rem;\n    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div#h5p_6ad934779cebf p {keep-with-next: auto;keep-together: auto;widows: 2;orphans: 2;break-before: auto;border: none;text-align: left;writing-mode: lr-tb;margin-bottom: 0.1388in;line-height: 1.15;background-color: transparent;font-size: 11pt;}\n div#h5p_6ad934779cebf p span {font-family: Calibri;font-weight: normal;font-style: normal;text-transform: none;font-variant: normal;text-shadow: none;letter-spacing: normal;font-size: 11pt;background-color: transparent;text-decoration: none;text-decoration-color: font-color;language: en;country: US;hyphenate: true;}\n\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"h5p_6ad934779cebf\"><section id=\"section_0\" class=\"h5p_layout h5p_page h5p_page_PL0\"><div class=\"PL0\"><p class=\"P1\"><span>Prologue<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P2\"><span>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. <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>We murmur \"Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Seasons Greetings\" over and over in a<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>cultural<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>litany of<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>good<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>cheer. <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>While considered to be an essentially Christian holiday, it has its roots in pagan celebrations and retains many of those elements. <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>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. <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>In the end Christmas takes over everything, makes us frantic, pretends to be important but can leave us wore out, financially stretched and disappointed. <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>If we miss the point, it can seem to be nothing.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P3\"><span>christmas is nothing<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P4\">&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P5\"><span>christmas is nothing<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P6\">&emsp;<span>if it is not about Connections;<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P7\">&emsp;<span>be they <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>friends , family or random encounters.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P8\">&emsp;<span>Connections that touch us at the core<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P9\">&emsp;<span>of our very being<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P10\">&emsp;<span>and cause a lump<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P11\">&emsp;<span>to rise in our throat.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P12\"><span>christmas is nothing<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P13\">&emsp;<span>if it is not about Beauty; <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P14\">&emsp;<span>expressions of inspiration<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P15\">&emsp;<span>created just for the sheer joy of <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>finding<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P16\">&emsp;<span>new forms and <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>new views of old ones. <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P17\">&emsp;<span>It is a Beauty that lasts<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P18\">&emsp;<span>Over<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>the passage of time.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P19\">&emsp;<span>It is not a fleeting image<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P20\">&emsp;<span>of a fad or of lust<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P21\">&emsp;<span>but a deep and abiding essence.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P22\"><span>christmas is nothing<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P23\">&emsp;<span>If it is not about a new Birth;<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P24\">&emsp;<span>a Birth within us to be<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P25\">&emsp;<span>more than we are today.<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P26\">&emsp;<span>A determination<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P27\">&emsp;<span>to add to ourselves what we have<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P28\">&emsp;<span>been missing and longing for.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P29\">&emsp;<span>A Birth of new ways of living<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P30\"><span class=\"T31\">&emsp;out our days and hours.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P32\"><span>christmas is nothing<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P33\">&emsp;<span>If is not about Moments;<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P34\">&emsp;<span>Moments that reach inside us<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P35\">&emsp;<span>causing our hearts to swell<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P36\">&emsp;<span>and our eyes to tear up a little.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P37\">&emsp;<span>Moments that bring us to a<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P38\">&emsp;<span>world of wonder and love.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P39\">&emsp;<span>Moments that will echo over and over <\/span>&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P40\">&emsp;<span>within us in the coming months.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P41\"><span>christmas is nothing<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P42\">&emsp;<span>If it is not about Light;<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P43\">&emsp;<span>Light that brings warmth<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P44\">&emsp;<span>and illumination to the path <\/span>&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P45\">&emsp;<span>that we are walking.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P46\">&emsp;<span>Light that compels us to reach for it,<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P47\">&emsp;<span>further than we have ever reached before. <\/span>&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;&#x200b;&#x200b;&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P48\">&emsp;<span>Light that is so intense that<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P49\">&emsp;<span>it is felt more than seen.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P50\"><span>christmas is nothing<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P51\">&emsp;<span>If is not about Mystery;<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P52\">&emsp;<span>a wonder and <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>an awe<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P53\">&emsp;<span>at the darkness<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P54\">&emsp;<span>out of which all these elements come. <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P55\">&emsp;<span>A <\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<span>Mystery that causes us to stop<\/span>&#x200b;&#x200b;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"P56\">&emsp;<span>and peer into that great unknown<\/span><\/p><p class=\"P57\"><span class=\"T58\">&emsp;and know that it is not about nothing.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"Normal\">&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/section><script>(function( $ ) {\n    \/\/footnotes\n    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