Are you ready for Christmas and the New Year? As Christmas day approaches on December 25th, we all seem to get more and more anxious about all the preparations. I’d say this is truer for the ladies I know than for the men. I know that I often get into a frenzy when there are just a few days left before Christmas! We ladies worry about the decorations, the food, the gifts, the parties, the clothes we’re going to wear, and more. There are the school concerts, the pageant at the church, the cookie exchange at work and the package to be mailed to overseas relatives. The Andy Williams song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Christmas is a wonderful time for sure. It’s the biggest birthday party in the world! For Christians, it’s the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. For everyone else who gets in on the celebration, it’s time for fun – food, music, parties, presents, decorations, Santa, and best of all sharing time with family and friends. Looking back at the idyllic manger scene we see on Christmas cards at the first Christmas paints a very different picture to the way we celebrate Christmas today. There’s Mary, an unwed mother, who’s given birth to a baby boy. Joseph, the father of the child is there. Their abode for the night is a very humble stable with only the animals around. There were no doctors, nurses, mothers, fathers, doulas, or medical equipment in case of an emergency. I would say they were pretty much all alone. Things change and our own Christmas celebrations have changed drastically. We have all the glitz and glitter of affluence all around us here in Toronto. As the Christmas songs says, City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style. In the air there's a feeling of Christmas Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile. And on every street corner you hear Silver bells, silver bells It's Christmas time in the city. Ring a ling, hear them ring. Soon it'll be Christmas day. In my mind though, all the excitement, glitz, and glitter is because the Christmas season is all about love. It’s a time when people show their love and appreciation for each other and oftentimes even those they don’t know. That’s the magic of Christmas and the spirit! Because Christmas is about love, even people who are of no religious persuasion do everything for Christmas just as if they were celebrating a big Birthday party. They get caught up in the excitement of the season and want to Bring back that lovin' feelin' Whoa, that lovin' feelin' You probably remember the well-known Dr. Seuss story of someone who tried to steal Christmas. I fondly remember reading “How the Grinch stole Christmas!” to my own son a long time ago. Although the Grinch stole all the presents, decorations, and food from the town, he couldn’t really steal Christmas. He realized that Christmas didn’t come from a store when he heard the beautiful singing voices of the children and the community of Whoville. How about in our own time? Can Christmas be stolen from children and whole countries in other ways? Many children live in countries that are at war this Christmas. For many children in the Ukraine and Russia, there will be no Christmas in the usual way. It’s 666 days now since that war started. The best Christmas present for them would be to have peace. No matter how loudly they sing, war will not cease. What of the children and families in Palestine/Israel? Since October 7th, 2023, armed conflict began between Israel and Hamas-led factions in the Gaza area. This is a very complex situation that I must admit is very hard to understand and goes back a long time in history. It’s not hard to guess what the best Christmas present for everyone there might be. If we could wave a magic wand and wars would cease, it would be the most wonderful thing in the world right now. However, since we don’t have a magic wand, there’s not a whole lot that any of us can do to make war cease in any part of the world right now. That’s not being complacent or uncaring. It’s the reality. Is there something we might be able to do for the future that could change the way we live now? Yes, and I would like to offer six suggestions for how each one of us might make it possible for wars to cease in the future. 1. We can start by examining our own inner landscape, our consciousness – how are we thinking about others? Do we see other children, adults, countries, people with other religious persuasions, skin colour, language differences, accents, as worthy of respect and love? 2. There’s a saying that “charity begins at home.” Before we go trying to put somebody else’s house in order, it’s a good idea to take care of those closest to us first. That includes caring for ourselves too. Self-care is the best care. You will have more to give when your own energy is high and your own needs have been taken care of. 3. On a more practical level, if you are out today and see someone around you who’s lonely, hungry, needs help carrying a heavy package or groceries, or in any other situation where you could offer a helping hand, that’s your opportunity to shine. Even a smile could be helpful today to someone who is lonely. Put yourself in the shoe of the other. 4. On a more international level, we need to rally for our leaders to go to war before they send the youth in our countries to fight. If the President/Prime Minister, and the Administration had to go to war, there would be no war. Oftentimes, young men and women who are conscripted don’t really understand what they’re getting into. Demand that there is explanation and transparency. Do you know any teenagers/youth who have the cognitive know-how or experience of life to understand war? War is not the answer when we want a peaceful world. 5. We need diplomacy and compassion in our relationships at both the individual, national, and international level. It has been said that peace is not just the absence of war. Our consciousness must change at the individual level before we can begin to make this world a peaceful one. I challenge myself and you to listen carefully to what the other person is saying to us starting today. Ask yourself the reason why they’re saying this and try to understand where they’re coming from. Try to communicate with kindness and be cooperative and understanding instead of being arrogant and rude. Deep down inside, we all want the same good things for ourselves as for others. 6. Last, but not least, is gratitude and generosity. They go hand in hand. It’s a grateful heart that wants to give and share out of love. Here in Canada, we have so much of everything. If you’re one of the fortunate ones who has more than you need, maybe you can find it in your heart and consciousness to start looking out for others you might share your blessings with. It could be right at home or even in another country – maybe even a country at war. Christmas is about sharing love through giving to others, even those we don’t know. According to Buddhist monk, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (1931-2022) “Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible. We all wish for world peace, but world peace will never be achieved unless we first establish peace within our own minds. We can send so-called 'peacekeeping forces' into areas of conflict, but peace cannot be opposed from the outside with guns. Only by creating peace within our own mind and helping others to do the same can we hope to achieve peace in this world.” Let’s get actively involved in raising our consciousness this Christmas and all the way into the New Year! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or whatever you say in your own language. Happy New Year!