Merry Christmas

Christmas Day is a few weeks away and everywhere I go my senses are being assuaged by meaningless carols, gaudy decorations and a surfeit of festive food. I couldn't care less about any of these things. When I go to church every Sunday I mostly pray for my soul and for those closest to me in the hope that I will become a better person, learn to forgive those who have pissed me off and generally find a calm centre to my being. All the money in the world, the most fabulous or expensive Christmas present, or the magical granting of every longed-for wish or desire will never add meaning to my life in the same way.

I meet people from different walks of life every day and I am struck that when I observe these individuals they seem to be aware that something is missing from their lives but they don't know what it is. Given the chance, they would welcome the opportunity to connect with a 'truth' that would set them free or find the missing piece of the jigsaw inside their heads.

Everyone of us is searching in this life. Whereas I had lost faith in humans and despaired for the future of the world I now know that I was wrong. It's not that people got more stupid and careless with their thoughts and understanding of what they should be doing or thinking. Instead they merely gave up. But that is changing.

The recession, the lack of plenty, the enforced job losses and the paucity in everyone's savings account, has led the non-believers back to find a core, a nucleus that remains constant in spite of all the turmoil around them. Ironically, that 'centre that holds' is the inner and true spirit within themselves that they had hidden away because they were too busy chasing something else. In recent weeks I have come across a number of  people who have solved the riddle by simply and quietly asking themselves 'what do I want out of life because I know it's not this'.

So, Merry Christmas, everyone. May your hearts be filled with gladness and joy at who you truly are.

Words and photo copyright SvD, December 2012.