Merry Christmas
The years have somehow taken away the holiday feel. Do you get this blues these days, when Christmas and the New Years come - like it is not a holiday anymore, nothing like that magic crystal-sparkling time you used to have back when you were a kid? Maybe you don't - but I had lost the elation of the holiday season a long time ago, the magic frayed, the delightful promises do not linger in the heart, all is known, and it is quite hackneyed. Carol singing and salesgirls in Santa hats stir not so much of a smile but an understanding of how tired they should be and by the end of the working day the look in their eyes tells it all. The usual. Cynical thoughts.
Decorating the house had turned into a task when you know that you have to do it and hope it will cheer you up, and it doesn't. The worst thing is that you know it won't, - even before you started with all the decorations. But you still hope - somewhere in the deeper nooks of your soul. You long for that childhood's feel that made you fly. I mean, sure, you are an adult, but the feeling of delight can exist in your heart. Hypothetically. Irrespective of knowledge or experience or chores or schedules. Can it?
You know - the magic is back. And it never left. I just concentrated on the molecules that make the outside world, not the traces of sparks running between those material molecules, painting the everchanging wonder-filled constellations.
My son started laughing at the flashing lights on a Christmas tree somewhere downtown. You get it? The lights were flashing. And they were different in color. And it is a wonder. For a 10-month old. Not a wonder for a cynic who compares it with all he'd known before and finds nothing new any more. Quite the opposite - a pure delight. Small in size. But immaculate and sheer happiness. It was something new. And it is a delight to experience it. How could I have forgotten this simple truth?
And this happiness is not made of the fact that I know how electricity makes these lamps shine. Neither is it made of the ideas of how much I can make exporting Christmas lights out of China. Or of the lists of presents to buy and things to prepare. It is a parallel streak of reality, happiness just is, irrespective of whether you have a lot on your plate or have just been born. Happiness can exist along with all the worries you are burdened with.
That is why this year it is a delight and a higher purpose to decorate the house. And it's bringing the feel of happiness to all the members of our small home.
Besides, it is a chance to wish everybody a Merry Christmas. So here you go:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I have up till now been whirled in the eddy of complications connected with this holiday, which made me forget the real meaning behind it. Or, rather, had it made unclear. Being an Orthodox Christian, it was quite a struggle to come to terms with the different calendars, living my daily life according to the world-wide calendar, and celebrating religious holidays in line with the 'old Russian' calendar. This thought poisoned the simple idea that a man was born 2000+ years ago, and what He said bears importance above my personal squabbling with myself. I mean, it would be nice to know which human-made calendar is more accurately representing the rotation of the planet, but hey, it shouldn't spoil the main thing. Would be worth it to remember such an event every day of the year, not to mention twice - with a 14 day interval. That is why I am posting this greeting on Dec. 25 according to current world calendar.
Likewise, I do not wish to insult anybody with my congratulatory greetings by saying that it is a birthday which has an important value for me. So it would be improper to take offense at this : ) After all, it is what I believe in and find the teaching to be the truth, thus the marking of the event.
It is so difficult to recognize the law of creation, to love the Creator, to love yourself and your neighbor, - in the pure form, with no impurities fused in. And it is quite simple to do so, the difficulty is in letting the impurities filtered out. And that's quite a challenge : ) Whatcha think, neighbors?
And of course
A Happy New Year, amigos!
Lemme share another fairy-tale image - this time it is our dwarf-sized Christmas tree glowing in the dark next to the TV. I mean, I might be suspected of going mellow and all, but check out this delightful sparkle. And it glows. It glows like the proverbial nose. And there's a promise of a wonderful surprise to be found under the tree. Even when it is me who's the acting Santa this year.
I got the right feeling back after those charmless years.
Decorating the house had turned into a task when you know that you have to do it and hope it will cheer you up, and it doesn't. The worst thing is that you know it won't, - even before you started with all the decorations. But you still hope - somewhere in the deeper nooks of your soul. You long for that childhood's feel that made you fly. I mean, sure, you are an adult, but the feeling of delight can exist in your heart. Hypothetically. Irrespective of knowledge or experience or chores or schedules. Can it?
You know - the magic is back. And it never left. I just concentrated on the molecules that make the outside world, not the traces of sparks running between those material molecules, painting the everchanging wonder-filled constellations.
My son started laughing at the flashing lights on a Christmas tree somewhere downtown. You get it? The lights were flashing. And they were different in color. And it is a wonder. For a 10-month old. Not a wonder for a cynic who compares it with all he'd known before and finds nothing new any more. Quite the opposite - a pure delight. Small in size. But immaculate and sheer happiness. It was something new. And it is a delight to experience it. How could I have forgotten this simple truth?
And this happiness is not made of the fact that I know how electricity makes these lamps shine. Neither is it made of the ideas of how much I can make exporting Christmas lights out of China. Or of the lists of presents to buy and things to prepare. It is a parallel streak of reality, happiness just is, irrespective of whether you have a lot on your plate or have just been born. Happiness can exist along with all the worries you are burdened with.
That is why this year it is a delight and a higher purpose to decorate the house. And it's bringing the feel of happiness to all the members of our small home.
Besides, it is a chance to wish everybody a Merry Christmas. So here you go:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I have up till now been whirled in the eddy of complications connected with this holiday, which made me forget the real meaning behind it. Or, rather, had it made unclear. Being an Orthodox Christian, it was quite a struggle to come to terms with the different calendars, living my daily life according to the world-wide calendar, and celebrating religious holidays in line with the 'old Russian' calendar. This thought poisoned the simple idea that a man was born 2000+ years ago, and what He said bears importance above my personal squabbling with myself. I mean, it would be nice to know which human-made calendar is more accurately representing the rotation of the planet, but hey, it shouldn't spoil the main thing. Would be worth it to remember such an event every day of the year, not to mention twice - with a 14 day interval. That is why I am posting this greeting on Dec. 25 according to current world calendar.
Likewise, I do not wish to insult anybody with my congratulatory greetings by saying that it is a birthday which has an important value for me. So it would be improper to take offense at this : ) After all, it is what I believe in and find the teaching to be the truth, thus the marking of the event.
It is so difficult to recognize the law of creation, to love the Creator, to love yourself and your neighbor, - in the pure form, with no impurities fused in. And it is quite simple to do so, the difficulty is in letting the impurities filtered out. And that's quite a challenge : ) Whatcha think, neighbors?
And of course
A Happy New Year, amigos!
Lemme share another fairy-tale image - this time it is our dwarf-sized Christmas tree glowing in the dark next to the TV. I mean, I might be suspected of going mellow and all, but check out this delightful sparkle. And it glows. It glows like the proverbial nose. And there's a promise of a wonderful surprise to be found under the tree. Even when it is me who's the acting Santa this year.
I got the right feeling back after those charmless years.