Preparation for Christmas

Now is a good time to prepare for Christmas.

Most of us will shop and try to find a special gift for those we love.

We'll enjoy the glitter and Christmas lights and peoples' good spirits.

Yet there is an important preparation for Christmas, to welcome and

celebrate the Birthday of the Infant Child.

We know the story of Christmas and how Christ came as a little baby

cradled in the arms of His loving Mother and how St. Joseph protected 

them from all harm.  He didn't have a wealthy home to offer, only a stable

and yet there could never be any greater wealth than the love shared by the

Holy family.

We have an invitation to share in their love for one another as we too belong

to a family / community / friends and we can welcome the Infant Child into

our hearts and homes on Christmas day.

Christmas Spirit...

In looking at the calendar I realise today is 25th November, only a month between us and Christmas.

How time flies by and another year will be gone.  Strange how quickly the days vanish and I'm now contemplating New Year resolutions!

Those of a spiritual mind say when God made time He made plenty of it.  True and yet...

Perhaps like many others I'm chasing my tail in wanting to achieve many things.

Do I believe God will love me more if  I succeed in doing many things for Him?

We don't need to impress God as He knows all, especially how weak and frail we are.

Therefore if we truly believe in God's goodness  then we will know how much we are loved, 

not for doing great things, instead for doing little things well.

We please God greatly when we respond to His love for us.

The baby in the crib teaches me how to be vulnerable and dependent on God's love for me.

I wish ALL a very happy and holy Christmas.  

Childlike approach to life...

Having a childlike approach to life is a wonderful thing to have and yet may not come so easily as we grow older and more set in our ways.

We know that God loves us, the same way a loving Father loves his children and yet there are times when we are not lovable.  Does that matter to God?

It matters to us.  We are always affected by any act where love is neglected or left out.

Of course we have good reasons always...

My studies / my job / my artistic abilities are crying out for attention and so I may well believe that there is no time to love and care for others. 

Not true.  We can only gain and become a better person when we give time to loving and caring and sharing. 

God loves me as I am, flawed and all, and so I am free to have a childlike approach to life, knowing that I am loved and therefore able to respond to Love and love.

TRUST

Every friendship, every relationship is based on our ability to trust / trust in the goodness of the other person / trust in our own ability to be faithful and care for one another.

When trust is put into practise, then we become more than ourselves.

Trust teaches us to learn from one another / teach one another / believe that when hearts are united, we become more than a separate unity, one could almost say that we become Divine!

A spiritual mind knows that we are made to love and that God is love, so when we learn to trust we also learn to be God-like in all that we do.

We become free from our own small-mindedness and able and willing to love.

Celebration

It was my friend's birthday and we wanted to celebrate by going to the cinema.

Free tickets for the Irish Premier of Fantastic Beasts were presented and off we went.

There was even an invitation to dress up as characters relating to Harry Potter sagas... would we?

We did, at least modestly.

The venue was the Savoy cinema in O'Connell street, bringing back memories of youthful trips to the flicks!

We arrived early to find ourselves among almost five hundred other persons... was this a children's film made especially for adults?  On being presented with 3D glasses we knew we were in for a treat.

A short preview by the leading actors assured us that we were onto a winner in entertainment.

The adventures began immediately as we were transported into New York city in the twenties where some beast or black magic was wreaking havoc on the city.

A young English man with a peculiar suitcase containing strange creatures came on the scene and I was lost into the movie especially when some of these flying weirdos seem to come straight at me.

Was it real or just 3D?

Plenty of excitement and laughs.  Definitely a film to be immersed into and enjoyed.

There is a sequel coming???  Great!

God bless the writer and the film makers for their creative imagination.

Let the Light in...

With winter comes darkness and we can bemoan the loss of our summer evenings OR we can enjoy the comfort of a warm fire and a good book.

There is always a choice for us to make and be happy with how we are and what we have.

Challenges come and go and how we deal with them is what makes us the happy person we have the freedom to be, simply by the choices we make.

What a great thing it is to shine our 'Light' and allow others to be comforted by it.

So, let the Light in and brighten this awesome world of ours with our vision of Love.