Tranquility

Once again we are bombarded with the message of peace and joy in the midst of the chaos of Christmas. What a contradiction this can be, unless we create a moment or two of tranquility in our lives to really grasp what that means. It can only mean what it implies if we make it so, and this is the difficulty of Christmas. Just celebrating and experiencing Christmas requires a certain amount of busyness, stress, financial pressure, peer pressure, and anxiety. To rid ourselves of these things requires that we 'opt out' of Christmas. Let's face it. Christmas as we know it is man made. Our Lord asked us to remember his death, not his birth. Focusing our thoughts on God's accomplishment through his Son, Jesus, is where our peace and joy really take on meaning. The peace of acceptance and forgiveness and the joy of a lasting relationship with our Creator is a heart issue. Putting on blinders at Christmas is helpful. Shutting out all the peripherals, that is, participating in it all, but realising all along that there is a central theme and focus that most of the world misses, will be a source of pure peace and joy, of the heart. May you find it this time.