Christmas Reflection: The Gifts of the Season

CHRISTMAS REFLECTION: THE GIFTS OF THE SEASON

By Sosamma Samuel-Burnett, J.D.

Founder/President, G.L.O.B.A.L. Justice

December 2021

We live in a consumer age.   As a society we are focused on buying and selling, giving and receiving things that we want or think we need and/or think others want or need to enjoy life.  The consumer age becomes most apparent at Christmastime each year.  While we can enjoy the sights and sounds of the season, many are focused on the hustle and bustle of buying and selling.  We can get flustered with the frenzy of shopping for and giving gifts.  Especially in America, we seem to be so focused on shopping for the “perfect” gifts for someone and hoping someone will give us the gifts we are hoping for.  But sadly, our focus on shopping for gifts has shifted us from the true gifts of the season: love, peace, and joy.

The gift of love has the unique quality of returning to us more than what we give out.  So the more we love, the more we show love, and the more we embrace those in need of love, the more we feel love and feel loved.  While some may express love by sharing purchased gifts, love does not come from a package.  It comes from a person – and a person focused on loving another person.  During Christmas, we each have an opportunity to share our love in personal ways – a thoughtful gesture, a kind word, a hug when needed, and so much more than can never be purchased.  And, in the context of Christmas, these expressions of love have a deeper meaning and purpose.

The gift of peace is both free and freeing.  We tend to think of peace as the absence of conflict or challenge.   But peace is not really connected to external contexts or situations.  It has everything to do with our internal and eternal life.  It is the Lord that gives us the peace that passes understanding.  And with that peace we can not only understand but relate and persevere.  That peace allows us to more fully see and experience the world and people around us, and gives us confidence in facing challenges and difficult circumstances.  Peace frees us from the chains of our own circumstances.

The gift of joy is not just a sense of happiness but is an outgrowth of love and peace.  When we love deeply, and when we can maintain that peace that passes understanding, then we can truly have joy in all circumstance, even in the midst of trials.  Since God works all things for the good – even those things most difficult for us – we can have joy in knowing that even hard circumstances are temporary and ultimately will be worked out for the good.  And we can pass on that joy to others.  Our joy can inspire others to also be joyful, share that joy, and seek the source for that joy.

These gifts of the season rarely come in gift wrapped packages or deliveries at our doorstep.  They come in the form of visiting with loved ones, supporting a friend, healing from an illness or injury, overcoming a challenge, learning to be in the moment, or simply having some time to rest and recuperate from the busy season. It is through these and countless other experiences that we can truly feel that we have given and received the gifts of the season.

Despite the consumerism of Christmastime, Christmas is completely the opposite of that.  It has nothing to do with buying gifts.  It has everything to do with receiving the ultimate gift – Jesus Christ.   And through Christ we receive the gifts of the season – love, peace, and joy -- that we can continue to receive and share with others throughout the year.

Christmas Reflection: Anticipating Something Great to Come

By Derek Martin

“To me, the Christmas season has meant the joyful anticipation of something great to come.”

This past year or two has been a challenging season for everyone to say the least. I personally have had many very painful personal situations during this time and I empathize greatly with the many that have walked similar paths. The culmination of those challenges was particularly painful… quite literally. I was in a serious car accident. When it happened, I knew almost immediately what had happened and it was very similar to car wrecks you see in movies – the POV camera is blurry, there was a high-pitch squealing, and smoke everywhere. I felt like I had been hit in the chest with a wrecking ball.

I didn’t know how serious the chest pain was but it felt like there was some damage to my ribs and under my ribs. I remember praying to the Lord that if this was the end, if something was wrong with my heart or something else, I was ok with Him taking me - which was a very strange part of the whole ordeal as I remember it. The reality, though tough, was that I wasn’t as bad off as I felt at the time. I ended up coming out of the car wreck with a broken sternum, a cracked 3 rd rib on my left side and a partially collapsed lung on the top of my left side as well. The other person involved in the wreck hurt their hip but had no major damage and for that I am very grateful.

The miracle came next. I ended up receiving more prayers via Facebook, email, phone calls, texts and the like than anyone could possibly imagine… and they surely worked. I went onto the hospital in the ICU unit on Friday evening, by that Sunday morning I was being driven home. The collapsed lung had healed itself by that Thursday and I was given a clean bill of health. The trauma doctor said that most people who had this kind of accident would still be in the hospital on Thursday and here I had been home for 4 days already and my collapsed lung was totally better - a miracle in and of itself. By the following Monday (a little over a week from the accident) I was back at work, and was back to about 95% a little under a month after the whole ordeal - another miracle.

One of the most poignant things that struck me during it all was when Jennifer (my wife) went to see the car at the wrecking yard. The entire front, driver-side where I was sitting was gone almost entirely. It had been pushed into the passenger side. She was very choked up upon seeing how bad the wreck had actually been. As Jennifer was removing personal items from the car, she noticed something. I had a cross necklace, which was made out of nails bound together, hanging from the rearview mirror. Upon all this destruction was the cross, sitting there in front of where I had been sitting and it was untouched still, just hanging in the spot it had always been.

The cross was the reminder that through all of the trouble we encounter in our lives, Jesus is right there in front of us, protecting us, protecting others, and helping us in every way even when we might not see Him there. The cross was the reminder that I was taken care of long before the accident ever happened and that He will take care of me always.

To me, the Christmas season has meant the joyful anticipation of something great to come. Throughout all the pain we have each endured during the past 2 years, let Christmas serve as a reminder that Jesus has something great coming for us, that He is the healer, and that He is with us always.

Christmas Reflection: Shifting from a “To Do” to a “Being” Mindset

BY EMILY WINN

St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland

“However, I think there is much to be said about shifting your view of life from doing to being. The question of what do you have to do, should change to how do you want to be.”

For the past three months, I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in Maynooth, Ireland. An Irish town of about 15,000 people, Maynooth was a wonderful place to live. Maynooth is about a forty minute bus ride outside of Dublin city center and provided the perfect respite for me to reflect, learn about the Irish culture, and learn about myself.

I lived on a college campus, next to a beautiful church. I was able to integrate into Irish culture, take classes with Irish students and professors, and make connections with many people. Ireland as a country is beautiful, with a very distinct culture that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The Irish natives I encountered were warm, friendly, and more focused on living in the present than I am used to.

My study abroad experience was truly once in a lifetime. I feel so blessed that I was able to travel abroad at all, and that I could travel not only all across Ireland, but to many other European countries as well. I took 5 classes at Maynooth University and had the chance to play on the soccer team. However, these are all things I did, and while they were life changing, they were not actually the most impactful part of my experience.

Going into my study abroad experience, I had high hopes to travel intensely, spending every weekend in a different location. I wanted to do and see as much as I could in the small time I was given. I quickly attempted to make plans for all the weekends, filling up every second with an adventure. This is the way that I have always lived my life, wanting every moment to be full, to feel that I am taking full advantage of opportunity. This mentality leads to everything becoming part of the to do list. This to do list includes the normal activities such as grocery shopping and doing laundry, but also included things such as “get coffee with so and so” or “make time for myself.” In considering every aspect of my life as part of the “to do” list I was not giving the personal parts of my life enough credit, and they began to blend together with the less enjoyable, routine activities.

This mentality is common in American culture, and I quickly found that it did not mesh well with European culture, and especially Irish culture, and I felt a disconnect. While I was trying to do as much as I could, my Irish counterparts were focused on something else: being in the moment and enjoying every part of it. In noticing this disconnect, I realized that I myself was so caught up in the doing, that I missed out on the being, and this was not only limiting my study abroad experience, but not allowing me to be the fullest version of myself either.

Now it is easy to feel overwhelmed by all the to dos, especially during this time of the year. There are so many things to get done in time for Christmas, so much to accomplish in the last days of 2021 to prepare for the new year, and only so much time. However, I think there is much to be said about shifting your view of life from doing to being. The question of what do you have to do, should change to how do you want to be.

Especially in a time of disconnection fueled by social distancing and the pandemic, it is more of a time than ever to just spend time with loved ones, and be, not do. I believe that God created each and every one of us in his image, and in a very unique and loving way. And I believe that God does not care as much about what you do, as he cares how you treat others and how you live in the moments that you are given. During this Christmas season, focus on being. Do not let the things that need to get done fall to the wayside but focus on the actual action of doing those things and find thankfulness in the smallest of moments.

Although it took me living on another continent to realize the value of being, I hope to carry this mentality with me for the rest of my life. I realize how much more content and energized I feel when I shift to this way of thinking, and I am a much more thankful and humble person because of it. The pace of life I am returning to is very different than the pace of life I experienced in Ireland, but I will work hard to remember how at peace I felt in Maynooth, Ireland.

I saw so much and learned so much during my time abroad. But above all, I understood the value of appreciating every opportunity and every individual moment I am given, and I hope that this message leaves you all with the same mentality.