Not Always the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

12/14/22 (Thank you to ‘depositphotos’ for this beautiful image.)

Hi Dear One –

How are you doing? Do you believe in any of the holidays that are coming up? If so, do you ever find it hard to actually celebrate them?

If you’re struggling, PLEASE know people DO care (although that may be hard to see right now), and life IS getting better. If you need someone to talk to, on the homepage underneath the ‘recent posts’ section is a list of numbers to call. Please don’t hesitate to use them; people are ready to listen because we DO care about you. Lord knows, I’ve used several of them quite a few times, and it always helps.

This next part is a reposting from last year since it’s still relevant . . .

I just heard about the shooting that happened at the high school I graduated from and can’t stop crying. Although you good people already know this, I feel a compulsion to iterate:  Please be kind, you never know when kindness might influence another to keep them from doing something they can never take back. 

A full circle moment is happening because a friend (my Sister Of Spirit) and I reconnected earlier this year after not seeing each other since we were in our early twenties. SOS was the one person I couldn’t push away during the teen years, and she (and God, though I didn’t know it at the time) got me through them. I never told her, back then, what was going on in my life but her innate, persistent, kindness kept me from doing something (to myself) that could never have been reversed. Today when I texted her about what happened, I thanked her for being the difference in my childhood. 

I pray to be the difference for someone else . . .

No matter which holiday season we may or may not observe, it can be a time of joy and celebration or stress, confusion and conflicting feelings, and/or a time of grief, loneliness and desolation.  Difficult feelings can be compounded due to the pressure some people feel because it seems the world is telling us we ‘should’ be so excited, cheerful, loving and giving. 

I’ll be honest, like so many other good people I struggle to varying degrees during these times.  It’s not a personal ‘flaw’ or sin, nor is it weak or shameful to feel and admit this. Truth should never be denied or told to shut up just because it may make others uncomfortable.  It’s only by bringing the darker truths into the light of honesty that we can create the hope and perhaps healing that comes from knowing we are not alone. Then maybe, together, we can encourage each other enough to get us through the darkest moments when desperate decisions can be made that create consequences we can never rescind. 

And even though we, as mortals, may not be able to see it in those most painful moments when  someone chooses to hold onto hope in the midst of their God awful pain, that’s when Heaven rejoices.  

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to remember that sometimes joy in ourselves and others cannot always be fabricated and shared to our specifications. Remind me to not ignore someone who is in dire need of a smile or blessing just because it might infringe on my comfort zone.  And also remind me that just because someone else may not get an immediate ‘pick-me-up’ from what I tried to do for them does not discount the gesture.  It just may be the seed that sprouts in time to keep them (and perhaps others) safe.  If only we could see Heaven’s joy then!

Back to this year . . .

As a child I remember watching “The Little Drummer Boy” animated Christmas special.  I always cried when the lamb died even after watching it several times so I knew He came back to life.  I was uncomfortable with the feelings the show evoked so I quit watching it, until about a year ago.

The first time I revisited it as an adult I got why it effected me ‘back when’. Watching all that the little boy went through, which created his increasing bitterness and giving up on humanity while growing his love for his animals, losing them, then getting them back only to witness his little lamb dying right after, hit my heart’s bullseye.  

And for so many years that’s where my psyche and heart stayed stuck, without much hope for what happened next in the show – the Lamb was resurrected. 

It can be so scary to have hope because hope can hurt so damn much, can’t it? And trust me when I tell you, I still struggle with that myself; believing there’s a reason to hold on when I’m not sure how something could work out, and/or why anyone else involved would still be around when I’m (finally) ready and able.   

But I’m learning that the love, beliefs and dreams God put in my heart are here for a reason; and with time, healing and some effort, it’s all becoming attainable.  

He did the same for you, Dear One. If you need reminding, He didn’t put those hopes in your heart to torture you, that’s not who He is.  He put them there to encourage you to keep going, keep believing, even when it may all appear dead to you. The resurrection is happening for you, too. So please hold on, and look UP; our minds and lives follow where we focus.

Of course, today’s song has to be “The Little Drummer Boy”; Bob Seger’s version.  Enjoy!  Much thanks to ‘nnmvt’ for posting this great video!