Too Good Not To Share.
Sara sent this passage to me tonight and it is just too good not to share:
Christmas is a strange season. When you're a child, it is a season of presents. When you're young, it's a season of parties. When you get your own home, it's a season of preparations. But when you get older, Christmas changes color drastically. Suddenly, out from behind the advertisements and big dinners, through the haze of old carols and soft candles, past the dazzling altars and sumptuous crib scenes, we begin to see what Christmas is really all about. Christmas is about finding life where we did not expect it to be. Every year of life waxes and wanes. Every stage of life comes and goes. Every facet of life is born and then dies. Every good moment is doomed to become only a memory. Every perfect period of living slips through our fingers and disappears. Every hope dims and every possibility turns eventually to dry clay. Until Christmas comes again. Then we are called at the deepest, most subconscious, least cognizant level to begin to live again. Christmas brings us all back to the crib of life to start over: aware of what has gone before, conscious that nothing can last, but full of hope that this time, finally, we can learn what it takes to live well, grow to full stature of soul and spirit, get it right. There is a child in each of us waiting to be born again. It is to those looking for life that the figure of the Christ, a child, beckons. Christmas is not for children. It is for those who refuse to give up and grow old, for those to whom life comes newly and with purpose each and every day, for those who can let yesterday go so that life can be full of new possibility always, for those who are agitated with newness whatever their age. Life is for the living, for those in whom Christmas is a feast without finish, a celebration of the constancy of change, a call to being once more the journey to human joy and holy meaning. ( Sister Joan D. Chittister )
Now go back and read it again...there is so much there, so many different ways to read what is being said. Love the idea of rebirth - of the ability to make changes in our lives - the POWER to make changes, to begin fresh...I think my favorite line is, "for those who can let yesterday go so that life can be full of new possibility always, for those who are agitated with newness whatever their age."
Thanks so much for sharing this with me Sara.
Edited: And thank you Bec for giving me some additional information on Sister Joan - how very cool. Love being able to read more about people who inspire me through their words. Gives so much more context.
Very cool... I am all about re-birth and renewal this time of year... and I do believe that Christmas time makes me see things in a different, more innocent light. Happy Holidays Ali!
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WOW! That was beautiful!! I needed to read that! Thanks and the very best in Christmas Spirit and the holiday season to you!!!
-rani
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i'm going to copy this and save it in my christmas journal. beautiful piece, Ali. thanks for passing it along....
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As someone who has just spent what seems like weeks shopping, standing in queues and generally wishing that it wasn't Xmas - what a wonderful amazing wake up call. Thank you. Christmas Eve just got a little more mellow for me!
Narelle
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WoW! I love it when insightful people share their wisdom! Thanks so much for posting this stirring insight! WoW! You're rght! Every time I read it tells me more! There's power in this statement. You are doing your part of "being once more the journey to human joy and holy meaning" by sharing this! Merry Christmas!
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I read this on her blog yesterday........such a powerful message.
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This passage has come at just the right moment for me...have been feeling "something" but couldn't quite put my finger on it. Thanks for sharing and wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas!
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beautiful...i needed this...i've been struggling with being away from my family this Christmas...and the drama of my hubby's family here...it feels good to remember what Christmas is all about...well...i hope you have a beautiful Christmas...
~jill
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Ali - please, let me say thank you - I´m a daily visitor of your blog - and I love it! I love your thoughts, I love your sight of the things and so, your blog is a great place of inspiration for me, not only for scrapbooking but for a lot of other things! Thank you!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Petra from Germany
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LT in NJ is one of my good friends who has a blog too and shared this from your blog. It is amazing and pegs a lot of feelings (some that you didn't even know). Thanks for sharing. Merry, Merry, Peaceful Christmas!
-p
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Thank you for the inspiration! I *LOVE* this passage!
And hope you have a great Christmas Eve and a wonderful Christmas Day!
Blessings and Peace,
Maria
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this speaks to me deeply. thank you for posting this today.
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Ali, thanks for posting that quote about the holidays. I plan to read it aloud at the dinner table when I am with my family this Christmas. And, thank you for sharing on your blog. Your creativity is inspiring and your family is enchanting. My best wishes to you all this holiday ~Sharon
http://e14studio.blogspot.com
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Thank you so much for sharing!
I will translate this in Dutch-language and will also read it aloud at the dinner table with my family tomorrow...
Wishing you and your family a very merry joyful Christmas...
-Monique
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wow--what a powerful passage--merry christmas!
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Love this as well. Like the idea of rebirth and the inner child. Very powerful. Thanks for passing it on:) Happy Holidays!
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If you get a chance, take a look at her book of meditations - Becoming Fully Human: The Greatest Glory of God. She is an amazing woman and one I would surely like to me.
It is wonderful that, even tho most of us do not know each other, we can share a moment of connection drawn together by the wise words of Sister Joan Chittister.
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This is exactly what I needed to read/see/hear today. Perfect (if not serendipitous) timing! Thank you.
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What a fantastic passage, Ali - thank you for sharing it!! I'm going to pass it along as well!
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so powerful. thank you for sharing. it's wonderful :)
R
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Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us this Christmas. This is something I will print out and save to savor over and over again. I hope you and your family have a Blessed Christmas. I am a lurker on your Blog and I love your spirit. You are a good woman Ali.
Peace,
Carla in Arlington,TX
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Just stopping by to say I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!! Merry Christmas, Ali!
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Ali - I hope you, Chris and Simon have a wonderful Christmas. Thanks you for the wonderful quote as well :)
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After the year I've had, this really touches my heartstrings...have a merry christmas Ali!!
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Merry Christmas!
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