CHRISTMAS IS CRYING

Christmas, in terms of the symbols portraying it, varies across the globe. The word,’ Christmas’ meaning ‘Christ Mass’ is essentially and traditionally owned by the Christian faith, however, the notion of the end-of-year celebrations has pagan origins, and the birth of Jesus took place possibly at the beginning of the new year.

The celebrations have now become something that has been hijacked by people and organizations worldwide, and have become imbued with materialism, greed, selfishness, to mention just a few. Such sentiments are outlined in the narrative of the great classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ embodied within the behaviour and lifestyle of the central character ‘scrooge’.It seems amazing that people’s attitudes have not changed for the better since the difficult times in which Dickens lived.

Septimius Christmas was a strange man he was a very funny shape and looked rather ridiculous his right side was very large, and his left side was thin and crooked. Septimius loved to travel, but since Covid 19 emerged that was becoming more and more difficult. , added to that he had become so out of balance that he often fell, and found it hard to get up. Septimius was often in extreme pain and fought hard for a daily and ongoing quality of life.

As Christmas came round he was determined to do something out of the ordinary, so he decided to travel all around the world and find out how everyone was preparing for the festival. He had had his booster so he felt it was ok, and he had a friend who, being a multimillionaire was able to take him in his jet.

So they set off and stopped to observe parts of each country Septimius was, in turn, deeply moved, and very angry at what he found. He noticed that there were many loving families and cultures where Christmas was coming together in a natural and loving way, whilst others were carrying on irresponsibility drinking, and carousing gathering all to themselves without thought for others.

In some parts, he saw such need that his huge misshapen body began to shake and copious tears poured out of it. What can I do he questioned himself? Almost immediately he felt, as it were, a hand on his shoulder, and a voice inside him said, fix yourself first, and then you will see clearly to help others, Septimius saw the wisdom of this and allowed the journey to help him balance his own life, he began to see how he could make a difference and challenge the rot of materialism which has infiltrated Christmas He also realized that tears are good for restoring our balance almost like they kind of wash you all over, and clear your vision.

Some years ago, part of my job, took me into homes for the severely mentally ill, my brief was to work with staff groups. The stories of the patient and staff pain as Christmas approached were horrendous, Families stopped visiting, and patient behaviour became more and more bizarre. The razmataz of Christmas induced lonliness and awakened deep trauma in the patient groups causing unbearable stress for the staff.

Christmas is a new beginning and is not about a carousing festival to indulge greed and selfishness, but about living its transformative message each day of your life. We are all sorrowing at the loss of celebration due to Covid and this is a huge loss, but with the loss, there is an opportunity Christmas is crying! What is it saying to you? Have you cried tears?

NOW, WHERE IS THE JOY, HOPE, AND TRANSFORMATION?