Rev. Ben Fowler
  • Home
    • About Me
    • Sacred Chant
    • Workshops
    • Nottingham Community Church
    • Radio Interview
    • The Old Folky
  • Eyes and Ears
  • Events
    • Russill Paul
    • Lodgings For Workshops
  • Links
  • Contact

A Season of Giving

12/23/2011

2 Comments

 
This is about the only time of year when we seem to breathe a big sigh of relief. For most of the year we muddle along, paying too little attention to what goes on around us, and focusing mainly on the nitty-gritty of everyday life. Then Christmas time comes, and there is a flurry of activity culminating with a feeling of being wrapped in wonder. But even as we struggle our way through the hustle and bustle, something seems a bit different.

I notice it most in my wife. Generally, the last thing she would do is head to the malls in our area for any kind of shopping experience. It's not that she minds the stores, but the vast parking lots, the rampant consumerism and throngs of consumers are all things that irritate her, almost more than I do. But yesterday she called me from her car, in the parking lot of the mall, where she had been waiting for more than 20 minutes just to get out of the parking lot. I expected a string of expletives, but what I received was a reasonable and sane person, not happy, necessarily, to be stuck in the mire of parking purgatory, but not at all overwhelmed by the experience. 

And that's the way much of life seems at this time of year. Our tolerance grows significantly for the things that slow us down, or get in the way of our routine, or make us irritated, or feel like impositions to our everyday living. And I don't know about you, but that just plain feels good to me. I worry less. I live more in the present. I let go of things that at other times of year might nag me for days. 

I suppose that what causes all this is that we expect to feel different at this time of year. We expect people to be nice. We expect to be more forgiving. We expect to feel excitement and tolerance and compassion. And we are all focusing on giving; whether gifts of stuff to family and friends, or gifts of support to the needy, or gifts of love--giving is kind of the watchword at Christmas time. We are thinking about others more than about ourselves.

It is arguably the most profound lesson of Christmas. It is not the size or expense of the gift. It is not actually anything material about the gift. It is from giving humbly and selflessly, with love and compassion, and with forgiveness, that we truly receive the greatest gifts; we receive the gift of  tolerance, of inner calm and of a true love of humankind that strengthens us even amid all the struggles of life.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we gave this to ourselves and to others all year? It's not impossible.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year 

2 Comments
Lisa Buell
12/24/2011 09:43:04 am

Aho ho ho

Reply
ladyhoneylyn link
10/23/2013 11:53:35 am

Took the day off and was just reading up some blogs and thought I would post here

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Rev. Ben

    I am an Interfaith Minister. My ramblings are primarily  random thoughts, and commentary on life, love and the pursuit of happiness. See more on the ABOUT ME page (above).

    To be notified of my new posts, use the RSS feed below--if you use Google reader or other such.

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All
    Grace
    Ground Of Being
    Growth
    Householder
    Intimacy
    Love
    Mother
    Personal Growth
    Religion
    Self Love
    Self-love
    Spirit
    Spiritual
    Spirituality
    Spiritual Practice

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.