The holidays are such a glorious and joyful time of the year. The brisk cold air brings with it anticipation of our Thanksgiving feast, time with our families, and the joy that comes with choosing the perfect gift for a loved one at Christmas. We bring out our favorite recipes that have become a family tradition, and those treasured ornaments handed down through the years. The smells of gingerbread, cinnamon, and pine cones fill each corner of the house with love, as comforting and easy as watching the snow fall and blanketing the rooftops. The lights twinkle against the dark sky, while smoke billows from the chimneys from a nice cozy fire.........these are all things we think about when the holidays roll around each year.
However, things can get in the way of our hanging on to that dream of the perfect Christmas that Norman Rockwell depicts on the front of LIFE magazines from years ago, especially with the current state of the economy and people losing their jobs. We are all afraid to spend money, for we don't know how bad it's going to get, and quite frankly I'm sure many have felt as I have, where your trip to the grocery store is quite different than it was six months ago. Instead of making several desserts, or having turkey and ham, we realize that we will have to scale down our menu, in hopes of not taking away from the traditional Christmas dinner.
I think the best way in which to handle this, is asking people to bring a dish to share, instead of one person taking on the responsibility of the whole meal. That way it's not a burden, but a joint effort on everyone's part, and a more appropriate way in which to celebrate the bringing together of loved ones in order to celebrate the holidays.
The same can be said for buying gifts. Many families draw names, so that you're responsible for buying one gift, instead of struggling to come up with the money to buy several. Or, you can even decide to not buy gifts in your family, but instead preparing a meal together and offering it to a family in need. The holidays should not be about going into debt, but about celebrating the birth of Christ, and stopping for a moment and remembering how much our loved ones mean to us, especially when we are all at the mercy of today's economy and being forced to make decisions to stay afloat.
We can still enjoy the Norman Rockwell Christmas, using our last years decorations, table cloths, and scaled down menu's, and making a conscious decision to simplify the holidays instead of having the need to elaborate. People love handmade and home cooked items, which can be very inexpensive to make, and appreciate the love and time it took to make them.
I hope we can all focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year, remembering that even when faced with not knowing what to expect after the holidays are over, we can still enjoy those things that bring us peace and joy, whether it's driving around looking at the Christmas lights, or stopping by a friend's house for eggnog and fruitcake.
The world needs love, laughter, understanding, and compassion this year, and a belief that God will bless us all, even in the midst of bad times.....which ultimately gives us true reason to live "in anticipation."
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
"Opinions"
According to my friend Webster: An opinion is a belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge, but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind; judgment. Of course I believe the key word here is "seems", because there really is no real validity when it comes to opinions.......only speculation, however, the word that stands out to me is "judgement". And as you can plainly see, it sits alone, all by itself. Now maybe I should have titled this judgment, because in essence that is the premise for having opinions, but I think it's interesting how they can co-mingle.
Right now, I want to focus on what happens when our opinions come into play. When we are faced with a set of circumstances or with a person that is the least bit different than ourselves, something inside our brain tells us it's time to gather information.... i.e...think ,ponder, evaluate, surmise, or assess, so that we can actually come up with how we will choose to interact or relate to the situation or person. Gathering that information involves delving into everything that we have experienced or exposed to since we were able to remember as a child. Where we lived, how we were raised, our school experiences, what we ate, what sort of environment we lived in.....etc. It's our core makeup. Just as a used car has been through one or several owners, moved around to different places, and either been repaired repeatedly, or maintained regularly........what you see at any particular point would show you how it's evolved over the years. It will perform according to how it's been treated.
Now granted we aren't cars, but my point is, we are all coming from a completely different place in this life, so it stands to reason that our opinions are going to be based on our past experiences.... and you notice, there is no point in focusing on whether they were good or bad, they just are what they are, and while we might think that our opinions are surely right in any given situation, they are still not based on the truth. We usually base our opinions on the outward appearance of something or someone......thinking that if it doesn't challenge us in any way to change our usual way of thinking, then they could end up on our approved list. However, if it has a certain look or feel about it that makes us the least bit uncomfortable, then they will end up on our unapproved list.
Of course I'm sure you've figured out by now that this is more about opinions about other people as opposed to situations in our life. I believe we put much more time and effort in injecting our opinions about other people that don't suit us, instead of taking the time to get to know them better. I wonder what difference it would make if we all got really comfortable with the fact that we are very different, in many ways, and everyone has something to offer because of who they are and where they came from, whether you grew up in the mountains of Appalachia, or Park Ave. in New York City. Much could be gained from either person.......becasue both are madeup of past experiences, either good or bad, and most often as different as two people might be, could most often find a common ground in which to share.
People are different for a reason. God made us that way...... not so we could stand out and profess our superiority while judging others based on our opinions of that person, which are not truth based, but rather express our humility in realizing that we all come from a different place and never have the right to approve or disapprove of anyone. We cannot possibly understand who someone truly is until we realize they could have a life and past that has challenged them in ways that you could never imagine possible.
Opinions about others are most often based on what is unknown, as opposed to what is known. So with realizing that, doesn't it make you want to stop, the next time you rear up and say something negative about another person, and understand in all actuality, you don't really know the whole story. After all, wouldn't you hope that if someone were saying something about you, that it would be based on the truth as opposed to speculation?
Right now, I want to focus on what happens when our opinions come into play. When we are faced with a set of circumstances or with a person that is the least bit different than ourselves, something inside our brain tells us it's time to gather information.... i.e...think ,ponder, evaluate, surmise, or assess, so that we can actually come up with how we will choose to interact or relate to the situation or person. Gathering that information involves delving into everything that we have experienced or exposed to since we were able to remember as a child. Where we lived, how we were raised, our school experiences, what we ate, what sort of environment we lived in.....etc. It's our core makeup. Just as a used car has been through one or several owners, moved around to different places, and either been repaired repeatedly, or maintained regularly........what you see at any particular point would show you how it's evolved over the years. It will perform according to how it's been treated.
Now granted we aren't cars, but my point is, we are all coming from a completely different place in this life, so it stands to reason that our opinions are going to be based on our past experiences.... and you notice, there is no point in focusing on whether they were good or bad, they just are what they are, and while we might think that our opinions are surely right in any given situation, they are still not based on the truth. We usually base our opinions on the outward appearance of something or someone......thinking that if it doesn't challenge us in any way to change our usual way of thinking, then they could end up on our approved list. However, if it has a certain look or feel about it that makes us the least bit uncomfortable, then they will end up on our unapproved list.
Of course I'm sure you've figured out by now that this is more about opinions about other people as opposed to situations in our life. I believe we put much more time and effort in injecting our opinions about other people that don't suit us, instead of taking the time to get to know them better. I wonder what difference it would make if we all got really comfortable with the fact that we are very different, in many ways, and everyone has something to offer because of who they are and where they came from, whether you grew up in the mountains of Appalachia, or Park Ave. in New York City. Much could be gained from either person.......becasue both are madeup of past experiences, either good or bad, and most often as different as two people might be, could most often find a common ground in which to share.
People are different for a reason. God made us that way...... not so we could stand out and profess our superiority while judging others based on our opinions of that person, which are not truth based, but rather express our humility in realizing that we all come from a different place and never have the right to approve or disapprove of anyone. We cannot possibly understand who someone truly is until we realize they could have a life and past that has challenged them in ways that you could never imagine possible.
Opinions about others are most often based on what is unknown, as opposed to what is known. So with realizing that, doesn't it make you want to stop, the next time you rear up and say something negative about another person, and understand in all actuality, you don't really know the whole story. After all, wouldn't you hope that if someone were saying something about you, that it would be based on the truth as opposed to speculation?
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