Reason For The Season

It was reported this morning that 66% of the people in the USA will celebrate Christmas with gift giving. Of the 66% only 40% are Christians. A comment was made about Christmas being about the buying and selling of gifts.
I believe they have it wrong. The original reason for gift giving is to express Christ like behavior in giving to those who are in need. Gifts say more than "stay warm, eat well" Some people need something more than a physical need. A gift can easily express what words are so hard to say.

When I was a teen I had few friends and thought my family hated me. One very precious time my brother spent an evening with me just reading words from the dictionary. We made up silly pronunciations and definitions. Laughter filled the house and our hearts. It is a time we both remember and refer to as how we feel about each other. We fight more than any other siblings I have met. Its hard to say I love you to someone you are angry with. But sending a gift....a copy of the exact dictionary we read from that night....that says it all.
My brother needs to know he is loved. He lives alone and has a life I wouldnt want for a dog. I cant live with him but I do love him and what better time to say it?. And in what better way?

Gifts are important, not for the economy but for he morale and well being of others. When morale and well being are in place the economy will take care of itself. People will be willing to work, play, spend, and live life to its fullest.

blessings to you.

Have a Cool Yule

Winters Magic

Winter comes with its own type of magic.

For some folks, Winter is a time for family and creativity. The beginning of winter brings a holiday season filled with cooking, decorating, family and fun. It becomes a precursor to a long awaited quiet time of year to rest and perhaps plan for the coming spring. Sitting by a fire reading a book or knitting while the man of the house works on whittling the next little project of amazing craftsmanship. Although this may be a scene from days gone past, most of us hold dear the notion we can still create in our hearts and minds what our spirit longs for.

For others, winter is a time of human durability. A time for struggles and challenges brought with severe weather and shortage of food and warmth coupled with isolation. A true test of physical and mental strength.

In any case it creates a different kind of life that is a magic of its own.
Snow and ice, and the stillness winter makes, opens the mind to a less complicated and more primal way of living. Sure we have our jobs and same old daily routines but winter alters them enough to get us to pay attention. Our driveways need to be cleared. Our car's engines need to be warmed before we can drive anywhere. We spend just as much time looking for our gloves as we do our car keys. When we see someone walking, the first thing we think is "does that person have shelter?". It is a time when we are forced to consider how nature really is.


Blue are the nights lit by stars reflecting on the calm stillness of snow.
I hear the soft footing of a deer foraging for the last bit of grass as it keeps moving so its blood wont freeze in the dead of night.
I can hear the ice crackle as the sun breaks late in the morning. The cardinals chirping in the pines as the raven calls out good morning. The smell of burning wood fills my mind with memories of my childhood when I spent hours building snowmen and drinking hot chocolate.
What a joy this time of year can be if we only take the time to live with it and not fight against it.