“Nothing lasts forever”, so the saying goes. But often we wish people, places, or customs would stay the same. We like the familiar. It’s reassuring. Change can be upsetting. Yet when life-changes occur – especially at Christmas, it’s possible to celebrate a lasting gift that’s good for your health.
Change happens
Over the course of my life I’ve seen many changes – including Christmas celebrations. As a child, I’d wake to find gifts mysteriously left on my bed. My family enjoyed a traditional English roast dinner, ate hot plum pudding and sang songs about snow and sleigh-rides – even on a scorching summer’s day.
Years later, the lovingly-wrapped presents and delicious food took a back seat, as the ever-growing extended family sought to maintain contact and spend time together. Today, cultural diversity has altered the landscape of Christmas in Australia, and a more relaxed life-style has led to barbecues and family celebrations at the beach.
TIP:
- To enjoy life, embrace change as it comes.
- If loved family traditions change, or the way special events such as Christmas are celebrated, don’t be sad. Stay buoyant. Be happy.
- Don’t focus on greeting cards, gifts or a special meal. These outward symbols come and go. It’s the heartfelt love and caring you give to, and receive from, others that lasts.
- Each day unwrap the gift of hopefulness, harmony and peace of mind. This leads to experiencing more good things in your life – including better health.
Changes at home
On the home-front, special occasions like Christmas, can be tinged with sadness, regret and loneliness. Loved ones may have either passed-on, or moved to places far away. These changes may try to cast a shadow over our celebrations and happy home.
TIP:
- To overcome the stress of change on the home-scene, think about the beautiful qualities that a home represents – happiness, harmony, love, caring, security and shelter. These spiritual mind-qualities are lasting. Best of all, like the humble snail, take your sense of home with you wherever you go.
- “Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections.” Science and Health p. 58, Mary Baker Eddy.
Unwrap a lasting gift – hope, health, harmony
Exchanging gifts continues to be important in many cultures and faith traditions. One gift that has been remembered for centuries and celebrated every December, is the birth of Christ Jesus. For many people, his advent unwrapped the lasting gift of hope, health, harmony and the love of a divine Father that constantly nurtures and companions everyone.
TIP:
- Consider reading the much loved Christmas nativity story – Bible, Luke, Chapter 2. Let it comfort, inspire, encourage and strengthen you with its enduring message of hope for peace and goodwill in homes and among nations.
- Celebrate the lasting gift of hope, health and harmony all year round. In the face of life-changes, it’s good for your health.
I’m a professional Christian Science Practitioner and Teacher. Through my prayer-based practice, I help people find happiness, health and healing.
Thanks for this wise advice about unwrapping spiritual gifts instead of fretting over incidentals that may rob us of peace at Christmas. I plan to simplify the arrangements for the season to make sure that my focus is on the rights things. At the school where I teach, we have an assembly called Christmas is Giving. Every child and staff member puts gifts under the tree for a local charity. This year our theme is “Putting Christ back into Christmas.”
Thank you Robin for your comment. Love what your school is doing. Agree with you about keeping Christmas plans simple. What a joy to celebrate the lasting gift of hope, health and harmony and unwrap it every day. Your pupils are very blessed to have you as their teacher. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Beverly, for your – as always – timely comments. The way we celebrate Christmas has changed dramatically over the last year or so, and it can be a bit of a struggle. I loved the reference to the snail also, but I find that thinking deeply about the real meaning of Christmas is a great uplift, as is looking for the opportunity to do something for someone else. With love and thanks.
Thanks Carol for your comment. Yes Christmas celebrations can and do change – especially within families. But looking for the opportunity to do something for someone else as you say, is a lovely thing to do and it does bless you as well as the other person. Celebrating the gift of hope, health and harmony means that both of you will unwrap something that lasts forever. Happy Christmas!
Thank you Beverly. Things, including Christmas celebrations certainly do change. Families disperse and pass on. The big meal seems to have changed from turkey and plum pudding to the luxury of seafood. It can be a lonely time for many as some people turn in to their families. However the goodwill and love remain and always will. And as John Greenleaf Whittier wrote “the outward symbols disappear from him whose inward sight is clear..”
Thank you Marion for your thoughtful comment. Yes “outward symbols” do disappear as Whittier wrote. Yet as you say goodwill and love remain constant year after year. When we stop and reflect on what Jesus’ birth has meant to mankind we can celebrate his lasting gift of happiness, health and harmony and unwrap it every day. Have a joy-filled Christmas Day!