A Christmas Wish - What do I want for Christmas?
Nothing to buy, nothing to sell.
Family gatherings. Laughter.
Music.
Multitudes of happy children, warm and fed.
An end to the current war, and to all wars.
Water in the well, food on the table.
Companionship for the lonely.
Solitude for those in search of calm.
Understanding for the prisoner.
Compassion for those who judge.
Strength for the belittled.
Comfort for the torn.
I want what everyone wants,
But believes can never happen.
Truth instead of lies.
Generosity instead of greed.
Knowledge instead of fear.
Modesty instead of arrogance.
An open heart, an open mind.
To follow Life where it leads,
With gratitude for hard times
And what they teach,
And, when good times come,
To pass them on for others to enjoy.
But if these things are too much to ask,
If I am silly or have somehow missed the point,
There is still one thing I would like to see.
A giant teddy bear for the wide-eyed world
I was sent this poem, which was written by William Michaelian, from friends who run a Counselling Forum on the Internet. It has been such a tough year for me, that I might soon be requiring their services! The rubber baseball bat that we use to vent our frustrations has been used so much that the top has fallen off, and there is a rather large dent in the settee!
Despite my troubles, Christmas is a time of good will for all, for caring and sharing and for celebrations, not for looking back and being miserable. There are many in far worse situations than I am - having lost their jobs, their homes and everything and everyone that they hold dear. I often look at the tramp who walks around my local town, day in, day out and wonder how his life came to this, and if once he may have been a successful businessman with a family. One can never tell, and in the current climate, there for the grace of God, could be any one of us.
This year, I have food on the table, money (albeit not very much) in the bank, and a partner who loves me. That in the scheme of life is all that matters. Yes it has been a tough year, and 2009 will get tougher yet, but on a personal level I have learnt so much. I have shed enough tears to fill a river (especially yesterday) for reasons that I can't go into to, and my partner has been there through all of it, holding my hand, soothing my brow and listening without judgment. I have done the same for him though, many times during our 11 years together.
That is why to me at least, this poem is so appropriate, for it mirrors my own situation, and those of so many that I see around me. The second verse is particularly poignant if you read it again - the importance of truth and knowledge instead of fear. This goes back to the three words that I posted a few days ago. In the end, truth is all that matters. We cannot allow the fears of others or ourselves in get in the way of that truth, for that same truth shall set us free. They may not see it now - we may not see it now, for the truth is painful, and sometimes embarrassing, as we are confronted with the fact that we were wrong, but that is the lesson for all. We have to follow life wherever it leads us - into our darkness and despair, confronting our fears and insecurities along the way, and knowing that other people's are mirrors for our own, but also knowing that mirrors are two way. When we come through the other side and into the light, we can acknowledge the learning that has brought us, and pass that learning onto to others. Like I say, the truth shall set us all free.
Now that we have passed the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, the light is beginning to return in more ways than one. The winter months mirror our own dark night of the soul, and this year, that of humanity as a whole. Yesterday I listened to Jelaila Starr's latest video, which was on this very same subject. Jelaila says that the purpose of the dark night of the soul is to go through a lesson, the purpose of which is to reclaim the power that we have relinquished into the hands of others because of some deep held beliefs.
When systems fall apart, as they have done this year, it feels as if all our foundations are crumbling. We feel vulnerable and exposed, as our safety net slips away. This precipitates our own dark night of the soul (sometimes it feels like a dark life), as we realise that we can no longer invest our power in things outside of ourself - financial systems, our jobs, the Governments and even religions. These are all things that we use in order to feel safe.
The old has to fall in order to give birth to the new, as you cannot build a new reality on old systems, systems that no longer work to serve the masses. When these systems collapse, as they have done this year with banks crashing, companies going into administration, and in some cases whole countries having to be baled out (I am talking about Iceland here), then we know that things are serious and there is no going back. We have given our power away to all of these things, and we have to claim it back.
Safety does not come from any of these things - the false gods outside of ourself, but it comes from our own inner God - the sense of power within. As people begin to realise this, this too will trigger fears from those at the top, those that head these corporations, as they will realise that they can no longer control the masses - through advertising, or through any other means, and there are plenty of them. We are no one's to control, but human beings in our right, with feelings and voices that deserve to be heard and listened to. No one can take away that one fundamental right.
Nothing to buy, nothing to sell.
Family gatherings. Laughter.
Music.
Multitudes of happy children, warm and fed.
An end to the current war, and to all wars.
Water in the well, food on the table.
Companionship for the lonely.
Solitude for those in search of calm.
Understanding for the prisoner.
Compassion for those who judge.
Strength for the belittled.
Comfort for the torn.
I want what everyone wants,
But believes can never happen.
Truth instead of lies.
Generosity instead of greed.
Knowledge instead of fear.
Modesty instead of arrogance.
An open heart, an open mind.
To follow Life where it leads,
With gratitude for hard times
And what they teach,
And, when good times come,
To pass them on for others to enjoy.
But if these things are too much to ask,
If I am silly or have somehow missed the point,
There is still one thing I would like to see.
A giant teddy bear for the wide-eyed world
I was sent this poem, which was written by William Michaelian, from friends who run a Counselling Forum on the Internet. It has been such a tough year for me, that I might soon be requiring their services! The rubber baseball bat that we use to vent our frustrations has been used so much that the top has fallen off, and there is a rather large dent in the settee!
Despite my troubles, Christmas is a time of good will for all, for caring and sharing and for celebrations, not for looking back and being miserable. There are many in far worse situations than I am - having lost their jobs, their homes and everything and everyone that they hold dear. I often look at the tramp who walks around my local town, day in, day out and wonder how his life came to this, and if once he may have been a successful businessman with a family. One can never tell, and in the current climate, there for the grace of God, could be any one of us.
This year, I have food on the table, money (albeit not very much) in the bank, and a partner who loves me. That in the scheme of life is all that matters. Yes it has been a tough year, and 2009 will get tougher yet, but on a personal level I have learnt so much. I have shed enough tears to fill a river (especially yesterday) for reasons that I can't go into to, and my partner has been there through all of it, holding my hand, soothing my brow and listening without judgment. I have done the same for him though, many times during our 11 years together.
That is why to me at least, this poem is so appropriate, for it mirrors my own situation, and those of so many that I see around me. The second verse is particularly poignant if you read it again - the importance of truth and knowledge instead of fear. This goes back to the three words that I posted a few days ago. In the end, truth is all that matters. We cannot allow the fears of others or ourselves in get in the way of that truth, for that same truth shall set us free. They may not see it now - we may not see it now, for the truth is painful, and sometimes embarrassing, as we are confronted with the fact that we were wrong, but that is the lesson for all. We have to follow life wherever it leads us - into our darkness and despair, confronting our fears and insecurities along the way, and knowing that other people's are mirrors for our own, but also knowing that mirrors are two way. When we come through the other side and into the light, we can acknowledge the learning that has brought us, and pass that learning onto to others. Like I say, the truth shall set us all free.
Now that we have passed the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, the light is beginning to return in more ways than one. The winter months mirror our own dark night of the soul, and this year, that of humanity as a whole. Yesterday I listened to Jelaila Starr's latest video, which was on this very same subject. Jelaila says that the purpose of the dark night of the soul is to go through a lesson, the purpose of which is to reclaim the power that we have relinquished into the hands of others because of some deep held beliefs.
When systems fall apart, as they have done this year, it feels as if all our foundations are crumbling. We feel vulnerable and exposed, as our safety net slips away. This precipitates our own dark night of the soul (sometimes it feels like a dark life), as we realise that we can no longer invest our power in things outside of ourself - financial systems, our jobs, the Governments and even religions. These are all things that we use in order to feel safe.
The old has to fall in order to give birth to the new, as you cannot build a new reality on old systems, systems that no longer work to serve the masses. When these systems collapse, as they have done this year with banks crashing, companies going into administration, and in some cases whole countries having to be baled out (I am talking about Iceland here), then we know that things are serious and there is no going back. We have given our power away to all of these things, and we have to claim it back.
Safety does not come from any of these things - the false gods outside of ourself, but it comes from our own inner God - the sense of power within. As people begin to realise this, this too will trigger fears from those at the top, those that head these corporations, as they will realise that they can no longer control the masses - through advertising, or through any other means, and there are plenty of them. We are no one's to control, but human beings in our right, with feelings and voices that deserve to be heard and listened to. No one can take away that one fundamental right.
The relationship between all these systems and us, the people that use them needs to change to one of equality and true democracy, and change it will over the next three years as 2012 approaches. It will be an interesting ride with worse to come, but from the ashes a phoenix will emerge, and we will go on to bigger and better things.
Thank you, June. You can read a bit more about “A Christmas Wish” in this entry of my blog, Recently Banned Literature.
ReplyDeleteWith very best wishes,
William Michaelian