Many people are not religious, but they still love Christmas.
Christmas has become more secular, and more spiritual.
In those parts of the world where winter is cold, Christmas warms our bodies and souls from the inside out.
Christmas is a time of expansion – we eat too much, spend too much, drink too much, but our hearts expand in the process. When we extend ourselves for others, we feel better, and associate Christmas with abundance and love.
The neighbours’ Christmas lights stay on all day and night, leaving an added glow, brightening the outside, when the days are short and the temperatures are cold. When the letter carrier delivers the mail, it`s only a Christmas card, yay no bills!
My sister hosted a family Christmas gathering at her house, a wonderful opportunity for family bonding. No need to fly to a sunny location for Christmas; almost everyone wants to be home for Christmas, spending time with loved ones.
At Christmas, we give what we can. It’s a time of goodwill and peace. We call a truce to arguments and wars, we see people we only see at Christmas, reminisce about Christmases past, and get updates on their lives today.
Christmas trees and decorations transform the inside of the house with colored lights twinkling like stars, with an angel on top. We relax by the fire with hot cocoa, grateful for all the riches around us.
Christmas breeds joy in our hearts, of giving and receiving, rewarding service, holidaying from work and stress, making wish lists, filling stockings with names on them, shopping in bustling toy stores, going to parties, making gingerbread houses, and smelling pine cones.
People I meet are wishing me a Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, and to me it means have a happy celebration, good fortune, good food, and love. I am not offended if they wish me a Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Kwanzaa, although I am not Jewish or African-Canadian, because I know they are wishing me the best celebration they can imagine. Christmas is a family time that warms the heart and shortens winter.
photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/2094406126/”>Darwin Bell / photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameliatwu/6541663721/”>CameliaTWU
photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/8303780929/”>** RCB **