And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?""It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!"
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"
And what happened then? Well...in Whoville they say,
That the Grinch's small heart Grew three sizes that day!
I am going to be completly transparent as I type on my new key board ( a thoughtful gift from my Step-Son) making oodles of mistakes...because the letters are not spaced the same way my old keyboard was. I have to look down now to type instead of just letting my fingers go where they naturally would go in keeping up with my thoughts. Any time I look up...I make mistakes lol. Anyway...I am going to be transparent in regards to how I feel right now! The way I always feel on boxing day....RELIEVED!
If I am completely honest...I have to say that I am not a big fan of this holiday, or at least what we have done with it! Sorry Cindy Lou....I am a bit of a Grinch. I know I am not alone. I know it is actually a very difficult time for many, many people. And too often those who find Christmas challenging are shamed for it being so.
Why Is it So Difficult?
Because of the pressure of expectation, I believe. We have built Christmas up into something it was never meant to be, attached so much varying belief and tradition around it that we got lost in some collective idea of "it" and suffer under the expectation to perform in order to keep up with this "idea." At least that is the way it is around me. Though I conform to this idea each and every year, it has never felt "right" to me.
What is expected is pumped into us months before?...
Man it is hard to escape from this version of Christmas in my part of the world...the signs are everywhere long before this one day of the year is near. These signs direct us into behaving a certain way as we are pulled along with teh herd. We have to be "merry" and happy at this time, even though the season tends to trigger trauma memories or if we suffer from depression. We "have" to socialize and meet with other people, even though we have anxiety. We have to gather in groups, even though it may be dangerous (COVID). We have to connect with family and make nice, even though there may be trauma and dysfunction upon doing so. We have to buy, buy, buy, buy the "perfect" gifts for a few special individuals, even though these individuals have too much and there is so many others not on our "special" lists that have nothing. We have to cut down God's perfect creations and stuff them in pots in our living rooms and decorate them. We have to adorn our houses like the "neighbors" do with sparkling lights so our eyes are drawn to them rather than to the brilliant stars in the sky. We have to bake and cook and consume an excess of food and drink, even though many go hungry, even though what we often eat is the flesh of other beings who were treated miserably. We then have to choke the earth with the discarded packaging, gift wrap, tissue paper, paper plates and plastic utensils that make our clean ups "easier".
And why do we do all this?
Because it is Christmas and what is expected of Christmas.
And what is Christmas?
Chist -mas...the mass for Christ. Celebrating Christ and his amazing presence and teaching on this earth is something I am all for...but why do we have a mass, a special celebration, for Christ on December 25th? ...Because the church told us it was his birthday.
Well no one really knows when Christ was born...but some day had to be selected didn't it, if Christianity was going to flourish? So the Julian calender came up with a date in early January and then later when Pope Gregory was competing with Paginism...he decided to use the time that came around the pagan celebration of Winter Solistice to declare, in a sense, Christianity as the winner. The calender was actually changed, dropping 11 days from the original.
So like many holidays...Christmas is a "man made" date orginally based on ego, not so much true spiritual motivation.
I have to ask, would this be what Christ would have wanted...being the ascendent and fully evolved human/spiritual being He was, as He looked down at our celebration of it in His name?
My heart says "no".
Christ taught Love, peace, joy, forgiveness and the givng of Self. He did not teach that someday we were to celebrate the birth of His teachings through the attachment of "things", buying, or the giving of material gifts. He did not teach that peace will be found in crazy lineups at the grocery store or fighting over limited amounts of "objects" at the toy store. The three wise men ,I am sure, did not shop at Amazon. He did not teach that true giving meant going into massive creditor debt. He did not teach that gluteny, greed and over consumption would be "okay" on his Birthday. He did not teach that "love" was to be limited to a few "special" human relationships...and that expressing love would come from buying.
I know I sound like the Grinch...I do...and I guess, if I am honest ...I am to some extent like the Grinch. I am not sure if my head is screwed on right and yes, with my bunyans, my shoes are often a bit too tight...that could be the cause of my grichiness lol. I do know that my heart is only "two sizes too small" when I ignore what my spirit is saying every year and continue to "conform" because of ego . Even though I give...it doesn't feel like "true giving"...more like " socially pressured obligation".
Part of me wants to steal Christmas from "Whoville"...I do...but as the Grinch discovered, that is not the answer. Christmas is a mind set and we cannot fix others until we fix ourselves. If we want to follow Christ's teachings for true giving, true Love, peace and joy all the year round we have to start by removing these unwise traditions and beliefs not from others in "Who-ville" but from our minds. Remove ego's version of Christmas, ego's version of everything and put it on a proverbial sled that will lead us to higher consciousness:
Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings!
The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!
Then maybe we will see clearly what Christ was truly wanting us to see.
All is well.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Google Docs https://docs.google.com/document/preview?hgd=1&id=10yulrehQodGE7jqCt6AT0W_gclURWfo4q0HryBjTxVw
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