Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 2020!
None of us could have imagined what we would be dealing with a year ago. COVID-19 has dominated the news and our lives. Thankfully, we managed to navigate through a highly contentious presidential election without fracturing as a democracy. It feels like our 239-year-old constitutional system worked, although only time will tell. I know that many people are still unhappy with the result. I hope you find time to heal and move forward. We are always stronger when united than when divided as a country. Hopefully, we will all strive to better understand different perspectives moving forward. If you only listen to those who validate your beliefs, you are living in an intellectual and emotional vacuum that becomes increasingly difficult to escape over time. Those who feel unheard often turn to bitterness and anger as their final resort.
The past year has also been an ongoing learning and character development laboratory. Even though I have been fortunate not to have contracted the virus, I do feel burdened by the social isolation it has wrought. We shouldn’t live our lives from a Zoom platform. Furthermore, it can be challenging to protect family members and friends by avoiding their presence. I guess that most of us on the other side of this pandemic will have a renewed appreciation for the people in our lives, which may be a good outcome of all this tragedy.
I have been amazed by the courage shown by first responders and health care workers. They had to put others’ needs before their own and face the crisis head-on, while most of us could protect ourselves. We should all be eternally grateful for their past and current efforts. The world is comprised of everyday heroes, often referred to as angels, who go unnoticed but are crucial to our survival.
I wanted to share a Christmas Blessing from the late John O’Donohue this year. His writing continues to inspire and motivate me to become a better version of myself. He makes sense of the world in a healing, good way. I find that, although he was a devout Christian, his words transcended all spiritual boundaries and tapped into our shared humanity.
Christmas Blessing by John O’Donohue
May the Angels in their beauty bless you.
May they turn toward you streams of blessing.
May the Angel of Awakening stir your heart
To come alive to the eternal within you,
To all the invitations that quietly surround you.
May the Angel of Healing turn your wounds
Into sources of refreshment.
May the Angel of the Imagination enable you
To stand on the true thresholds,
At ease with your ambivalence
And drawn in new direction
Through the glow of your contradictions.
May the Angel of Compassion open your eyes
To the unseen suffering around you.
May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places
Where your life is domesticated and safe,
Take you to the territories of true otherness
Where all that is awkward in you
Can fall into its own rhythm.
May the Angel of Eros introduce you
To the beauty of your senses
To celebrate your inheritance
As a temple of the holy spirit.
May the Angel of Justice disturb you
To take the side of the poor and the wronged.
May the Angel of Encouragement confirm you
In worth and self-respect,
That you may live with the dignity
That presides in your soul.
May the Angel of Death arrive only
When your life is complete
And you have brought every given gift
To the threshold where its infinity can shine.
May all the Angels be your sheltering
and joyful guardians.
Related Articles:
· Happy Holidays 2019 (capacity-building.com)
· Happy Holidays 2018 (capacity-building.com)
