In 2012, I wrote the first of what was to become a Christmas Eve “Juggle Struggle” tradition…speaking on the fraGEElay nature of the season (cue “A Christmas Story” reference)…and here we are again.
The Christmas season is often a fraGEElay one…so much to do, so much to buy, so many commitments to keep…the push to get everything just right so that our memories can match the classic Christmas songs and movies. It is stressful and exhausting. If we’re not careful, it can suck the joy right out of the season and leave us melting like Frosty on a hot day.
It is in this holiday swirl that we must remember to be gentle with one another—and ourselves. To love one another—and ourselves. In the end, it is all about love. After all, the whole reason for the season is the little baby lying in a manger…the literal embodiment of love…whose message is too often lost in the chaos of the holiday rush.
To me, though, this is much more than a season of fragility; it is an age of fragility. Our current climate makes keeping love at the forefront very difficult. There is “us” and “them” and little in between—at least that is what it feels like. Examples of idiocy and cruelty abound and take the spotlight far more than any examples of loving one another. It’s like Hate dragged Hope into an MMA fight and is making up the rules to favor itself.
Thankfully, Hope is one tough…virtue.
Even so, I do worry that things may be broken beyond repair. I know my own heart has broken over and again with the antics of the times, and I know I have a great deal of company in this misery. But Hope reminds me that the battle isn’t over…and that the need to be gentle while we fight for love with one another is an irony we must uphold.
Hope matters. It fosters the spirit that encourages us to keep fighting so that love does win.
We may be fragile—and times may be fragile—but we are tough.
And we are not down for the count.
I wish you a peaceful and love-filled Christmas…New Year…and new decade. May we seek and find a way of being better to one another…in our homes, our communities, our nation, and our world.
[I truly miss writing this blog. I’ve let it fall dormant except for a couple times a year, with my FraGEElay post being one of them and the other my word for the new year…Please stay tuned!]
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