My "Christmas"* gift to you

At one time, as a child, Christmas* was a magical ideal. But not something that was already there... it was an idea that was put there. As I've grown up I have come to realize it is the epitome of everything that is wrong with our society and it's perception of reality. Christmas appears to reward kindness and caring but in reality it rewards weakness and ignorance of emotion over logic.

You might suggest that I'm just a grinch, but that is also part of the programming... any decent from the mass illusion is quickly given a category to be dismissed into. Please read on... remember, there is a gift!

1 Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

It is this attachment to being a child that has proliferated in our society and those who would take advantage of children have promoted it and made sure it engulfed everything. Christmas appeals to the childish emotions and is contrary to what logical adults would accept. When one becomes an adult, one takes on responsibility and thereupon is the rewarded with liberty and independence.

It's no surprise that although this is the season described as "Season of Joy", and "Peace and Goodwill to all Men"... it is also the highest time of depression, breakups, suicide and divorce. This is a indicator of the illusion's detachment from reality. And the absence of the delivery of what it supposedly promises.

In regard to joy and happiness, studies have been done on the differences between Extrinsic goals and Intrinsic goals. Extrinsic being all the things most people are commonly sold (and I'm not just talking about advertising) as "happiness". These things rarely live up to the billing... from cars, houses and trinkets to ideals like government, the "American Dream", and "national defense". This things are not just sold in a marketplace but ingrained in the minds of citizens from the very beginning in stories, movies and music and continues to schooling, college and the work environment as adults. However, it's the intrinsic goals that deliver the most genuine happiness. The most common intrinsic goals are self-improvement, developing wholesome relationships and being a contributor to the betterment of others.

Most Americans are familiar with the phrase Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. These are really all about the same things but differentiated in time. Past, Present, and Future. It's an appeal and a promise to adults... not children. That through the practice of responsibility freedom and prosperity result. Children can be easily led away from liberty and into the morass of bondage... simply because they have no idea what is the difference.

Children are capable of happiness in the worst of circumstances... but that's no excuse for accepting the worst as a necessity.

Happiness is much bigger than immediate gratification... it's something that comes from using the gifts one has been given, to better themselves to the point they can help others do the same. There is no promise to it... it just is. Like the truth, with logic, it reveals itself and is it's own reward in knowing.

My gift to you, friends and family, is that if you seek real happiness. I am here for you. To help you find it, attain it, and deliver it to others. If you're unsure of the beauty within you or the gifts you have been given, I will be available to help you find them. Whatever time it takes, if I have it to give, it is yours.

Best Wishes.

Michael


*A clarification on "Christmas". When I say Christmas, I am not referring to the birth of Christ, just the "Holiday" and the commercialized traditions that have grown up around it. I am not condemning the gathering of family, the idea of good will toward our neighbors or Peace on Earth. Honestly I would like to promote more of that. But as Jesus says in the Bible. "...the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) If you would like to know more about the origins of Christmas check out this explanation from an observant Christian. You can contrast that view with this version of Christmas Within You. Whether one follows the Christian faith or not, the truth is revealing.