Guess what?

Jesus did arrive as planned

Christmas did come and on it rolls just as it always does, and as it should every year.   Yes, this year, the cards no longer come as they did, there is not the same family call, some friends move on and others are just no longer.  You know what?  I am over it. 

Change does happen.  It is real.  True, Christmas is not the same and I did approach it with a sense of loss but inevitably it happened and I am so happy it did.  Yes, it was different this year but no matter what it was as good as it ever was.    I gave gifts to ones in my life that mattered for whatever reason.  I shared a message with family and friends and at mass that spoke to me of what this time is all about.  We celebrated a mass that oozed meaning and joy with gusto.  I put on a memorable Christmas dinner for a small remant that is part of me and central to my Bangkok.  What more could one want? 

Jesus did come but the truth is he is already here and always been so.  Christmas is simply that needed and timely reminder of what is.  Christmas is about a true joy for all and a deeper coming together of people.  This is what life is about at all times.  We need Christmas every day, not just one day.  Let it roll on.  Ho! Ho! Ho!

We are waiting for the baby Jesus

The crib in our chapel is ready for the big event.  

It is Christmas next week and the crib is ready for the coming of Jesus.  Are we?

My key word for this time is "expectant".  We are expectant.  That is we are waiting full of expectation.  This is different from excitement which may or may not be part of our experience at any time.  Being expectant is the nature of this time of the year, while excitement is not something naturally with us at all times.  It is like you cannot have forced fun.  However, you can naturally have a natural time of shared expectation, as with the lead up to Christmas.

As I participate this week in a workshop on change, I have a level of expectation for good change in my environment, my sphere of influence.  I agree with the presenter that change best happens when the desire for it is shared and all work together for it.  If people do not want change, it will not happen for them, despite how much change is pressed or seen as a necessity in life.  What will happen instead is that people will suffer because they did not grasp the good change on offer for themselves.

The exercise of the workshop is to name a problem and analyse what stops good change happening to deal with it.  The five categories needed for change are named. 
Awareness of the need for change.
Desire to support the change.
Knowledge on how to change.
Ability to implement new skills.
Reinforcement to sustain the change.
All five areas need to be in play for change to be achieved.

I think of the saying - old habits die hard.  How true!  As I think of my entrenched ways and how they act against my own sense of worthwhile being, I would name desire and reinforcement as the two areas that hold me back from good change in my life.  I know that good change  will lead me to a better sense of well-being and holistic life.  Yet it so often just does not happen.  The model used for change tells me that these two lacking areas in my purpose and action result in my resistance to the change I need and desire.  So the unwanted result is that I constantly revert to my known ways of behavior that lead me nowhere and only once again  to frustration.   

If I am to make wanted change happen in my life, I am to challenge these two areas.  Thus the way can be opened to my expectation being realized for a better life.  Expectation can become reality when meeting the challenges of change.

Christmas is somewhat like that.  The days leading up to Christmas are days of expectation which open us up to needed change in our lives and world.  Let me work for the change that is called for and make it happen so that the baby Jesus comes yet again and WOW!!  It is Christmas again.

It's feeling a lot like Christmas

Previously, it was looking a lot like Christmas but now it is feeling a lot like Christmas.  That is what happened for me this week.

This happened as the usually somewhat disjointed staff got together as one unit to put up the Christmas decorations in the office.  It all happened naturally and happily, and they have done a splendid job.  Despite however ones in the same social unit may fail to connect or relate at times, Christmas comes and they just gel together - Christian and Buddhist.  Everyone loves Christmas, or so I think, as I watch them all happily working to put up the funny looking decorations and build their own crib looked over by Santa Claus.  It may be theologically incorrect but in practice the activity is the best of theology as it serves to bring together disparate human beings in such a natural and happy way.  To see what happened warmed my spirit.  It is what Christmas is all about.

All I want for Christmas is ????   I know what I want - a bit of kindness, a bit of happiness, people coming together in peace and a lot of joy.

Let's pray it all happens.  Bring on Christmas.   I so love it.  Ho! Ho! Ho!

People matter

Last week saw my birthday.  With the loss of three dear friends over the last few months, I just wanted a quiet day.  That is not what I got.  Instead of the birthday I wanted, I got the birthday I needed.  Whether I liked it or not, the ones at the office celebrated my day, and celebrated it so well.  One person in particular was so kind, buying me a shirt.  I was so touched by his gift that it truly brought tears to my eyes.  I told him he never had to buy me anything to which he replied - You deserve it.   I was feted by people I never expected to be feted by.

Then, on celebrating my birthday, it was onto Siem Reap in Cambodia for a three day workshop on migration.  The return trip became the misadventure I never expected as the plane broke down which led to an 18 hour delay, waiting between a hotel and an airport to get back home.  I won't go through the whole anxiety raising event.  All I want to share is that it was a misadventure because those whom I would expect to take charge and show care never did.  The airline management never showed its face to manage the situation, to be there to talk with their customers and to offer good information.  There was just no one with any authority from the airline to be seen anywhere by the passengers.  This had consequences of rumour and misinformation, people getting frustrated and angry, people experiencing unnecessary anxiety and stress.

The two scenarios of my last week speak of two sides to the one story.  Those who should have cared never did, while those who never needed to care did.  We show that we all do matter by how we care for each other.  That care might be required under a contractual arrangement such as being a passenger on a plane or else it just happens naturally in our day because people do care.   Often that care comes from the most unexpected quarter and just because they want to.  It cones in most surprising ways and tells us in the deepest of ways that we do matter in the eyes of others, and not only in God's eyes. 

Christmas is approaching and the reason for the season is that people matter just because we are here.  Ho! Ho! Ho!