Visions of Christmas

Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.~James Thurber

Well, the economy looks bleak, and my family of 8 is really feeling it. Turn on the news, and the world looks like a dark and scary place, with monsters of all kind lurking around every corner, just waiting for you to let down your guard for one fatal moment...I don't watch the news. I know enough to maintain a general awareness of Earthly affairs. I've learned to ignore the rest.

And so for me, this is the best, most hopeful, happiest, exploding and expanding with love and joy kind of Christmas Season I have ever experienced. I have learned to choose what I will focus my vision upon. And I have learned that my focus is best tuned into all that is good and pleasing.

Am I living in the Land of Denial? I don't think so. I can't ignore the state of my own family's budget. I know many people who have lost their jobs. I have seen the news enough to know that there is war, murder, rape, kidnapping, starvation, corruption...I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, for Heaven's sake!

Maybe this is just a part of what seeing with God's Eye is all about. It's the part that comes straight from the heart. Sure, I can look around me and see all sorts of despair. I can look inside of me and conjure up demons from my past. I can terrify myself with projected visions of horror for my future. Or, I can open up my heart and see with Eyes of Love. When I do this, I see a world that is radiating love. It is quite literally everywhere, in and around every person, place, thing, and idea, imagined or unimagined. We are all swimming in it, one with it, laughing and playing in it. WE ARE LOVE.

How does that fit in with all the horrors of the world? Well, it's been my observation that there is only one thing that can kill a demon, literally and metaphorically. Everyone knows the answer, whether they admit it or not. Love is the only thing that can kill a demon. And no, that does not mean that we stop defending our country, promoting good causes, or keeping our children away from predators. It simply means that we see the Love. We acknowledge the Love. We trust and have faith in the Love. That's all it takes.

At that point, Love consumes your life, infiltrating your mind, your emotions, your body, and your spirit. And soon you begin to see that love reflected all around you as a magnificent, never-ending, happy, and joyful work-in-progress. Demons are disintegrating with every loving breath you take. It all begins with you. The Love within you spreads to everyone you encounter, and continues on to everyone they encounter, and so on. And it all comes back to you, infinitely recyclable.

No one hurts another person who is not themselves already hurting. Love as much as you can, as often as you can. Make every day Christmas. And remember this: Love won't save the world, because it doesn't need saving. It is already a perfect reflection of humanity. You can't change what you see in this mirror without changing yourself, and it starts with changing your vision.

SEE LOVE.