A Brief Reflection on the Christmas Season

What is it about Christmas that makes the world seem so much more beautiful than usual? Inside, the soft glow of golden light emanating from a plethora of small sources touches all things, and deep jeweled colors, undiluted by white, seem to fill every corner. Outside, the world seems to become purified by the cold, and snow covers the world in an unadulterated layer of sparkling white, the purity and seeming rebirth of the world paralleling the perfection of the birth of the Christ Child. A house becomes a home again at this time, filled with welcoming memories of childhood and the scent of gingerbread and pine. The beauty is reflected in the attitudes of the season as well, as a spirit of generosity and happiness imbues the air and touches the hearts of all. It is the only time of year when the world hears the word “joy”, an expression of happiness reserved for a period of the most splendid form of happiness, identified by a warm fluttering in the heart.

            It is during this most beautiful time of year that the world, though so full of happiness and generosity, becomes touched by a pang of melancholy. In the presence of such beauty, we are able to recognize what the world should always be like, resulting in a feeling of inadequacy. It is during these beautiful times that memories of the beauty of the past days are longed for, and an ache develops. The empty chairs at the end of tables scream in their resounding silence, a pain only contested by the emptiness in the heart, where a piece of that person once lived. We realize the flaws in the systems of our world, as we begin to realize that not all people share in our elation, as not all of them are fortunate enough to live in a world where the spirit of Christmas lives, due to poverty. It is our recognition of the relative perfection that can exist, which makes the imperfections of the world an assault, more baneful than at other times, due to the vulnerability of a warmed heart.

            The recognition of this imperfection, however, does not have to be solely negative. The only impetus that has ever driven any action in the world is the recognition of defect, and drive to alter it. The positive energy of Christmastime strives for this, as it is a season of love. There is no imperfection in true love, and in our sharing of it, those little imperfections that are exaggerated by the seeming omnipresent goodness begin to disappear.

Christmas is not about giving gifts, but about sharing love. Rather than emptying our pockets of money, we are meant to empty our hearts of hatred, letting go of the hardness that has been residing there, to allow us to love more fully. The most basic expression of love is tending to a need of another. The world is full of possibilities for love, yet there seems to be a considerable void where love is absent. So when you notice the beauty of the wintery world at Christmas time, take a moment to realize that in spite of the beauty, there are pockets of the universe where love is not as prevalent as it should be. In even the simplest of actions, love can be spread to these places. The spirit of the season is love, and it longs to fill every corner of the world, just as we long for it. 

Reviews

[An owl on the moon]

What a brilliant message that drives deeply into our minds and hearts the message of the season... The beauty and joy of Christmas in this darkest time of year, and the true measure of its gift to lift us to a better place as people... to fill every corner of the world... Yes!