Christmas of 2008 is here and with it comes a new Gift, something quite different from recent years past. This Gift has presented itself to our society in an era when fast-paced lifestyles create a blurring activity of doing, getting, having. It is a different kind of Christmas this year with the gift of Simplification all around us… What a relief!
This Christmas, it is time to notice, to step back… and let go. The events of the times have slapped us with the reality that the direction we were traveling was not taking us where we really wanted to go. Too many sacrifices along the way…. The priorities shifted and something got lost along the way while the quest for bigger and newer and more became more of an addiction than a sign of prosperity. Families hardly spend time together while meals are grabbed on the go often prepared for us by total strangers. Attention to whatever electronic device is in a person’s possession at the time has replaced the friendly “hello” and smile to a stranger in passing. It seems that a simple polite greeting is too much to ask of us in our distracted and self-absorbed minute-by-minute existence!
But alas, we are now in the core of a pivotal age… where the unknown lies ahead beckoning us to move along - shedding all that was familiar and find trust in what will be. It is uncomfortable to say the least. The things that we placed so much importance on seem to be crumbling away before our eyes. We have worked so hard to achieve a certain direction and now it seems to be going nowhere. Uncertainties seem to crop up everywhere we turn.
Amidst the doom and gloom on the evening news, it is easy to miss the Gift at hand. The suddenness of the changes has created the catalyst for a new beginning. Thought processes have altered their course and attitudes are changing. Space and Time can be put to use in new ways. New Ideas can take hold that were not even considered six months ago.
The future may hold a way of cycling back around to some important values that were lost along the way. Visions of parents and grandparents teaching adult children how to cook come to mind, families sharing more dinners at home. Gratitude for more workdays and paychecks even if the check is smaller than before. Time… the Gift of Time… We have time to look around us and see what makes our Earth a better place. The time is here for planting gardens and buying fresh food in season. Reusing has now become a popular new trend. Reuse what we already have instead of the constant quest to replace with newer and better.
It is time for us to collectively take a chill pill and calm down and just listen, notice, and question. This is a “calling” so to speak… and a chance for something new… something better…
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