Reimagining the Birth of Jesus - Part II
“For certain is death for the born and certain is birth for the dead; Therefore over the Thou shouldst not grieve.”
- The Bhagavad Gita
"For every beginning, there is an end."
- The Matrix: Revolutions
From what I have been told by my teachers in Catholic high school, Jesus wasn't born in December. Rather, he was born in the Spring. As part of Christianity's great marketing campaign, or mixture with other cultures, Christmas took over a Roman holiday that took place at the end of the calendar year. When you step back and thingk about this holiday, it's pretty poetic: at the very end of the year we celebrate and remember the birth of a child. As something comes to an end, something else starts.
Earlier this year MAD welcomed his first born into the world. With her birth, I was thinking about the limitless possibility that this little life has in front of her. There are no big screw ups, or great victories for this little one, just a big blank slate for her to do anything that she wants. I think that's what this holiday is a true marker of: People can always start over again, regardless, of what one has done previously.
When Life beats you down--and this is a matter of when and not if--you have to remember that you can start over. Regardless of what people may tell you, or what you may think, there is always a new beginning waiting for you. It may be a matter of changing professions, doing some heavy duty therapy, or a number of things, but there is always a way to turn things around.
I think I'm more aware of this idea more this year because of what I have gone through with my family this year. My dad--who was a recovering alcoholic--is now a full blown drunk. I understand that there is a physical component to addiction--I will acknowledge that it is a disease--but he has continually chosen alcohol over his family. He can start to choose a better life for himself any time he wants to. It's strange to watch a family member choose to kill themself and say no to having a relationship with their family. The brutal truth though--as Aunt Shelly said so poignantly earlier this week--is that it is impossible to have a genuine relationship with an addict as they are exquisitely self-involved.
My hope for 2008 is that my dad chooses to say "yes" to our family, and "no" to a life of addiction. But until he makes that choice, I'm just going to be waiting....and hoping.....
Namaste
- The Bhagavad Gita
"For every beginning, there is an end."
- The Matrix: Revolutions
From what I have been told by my teachers in Catholic high school, Jesus wasn't born in December. Rather, he was born in the Spring. As part of Christianity's great marketing campaign, or mixture with other cultures, Christmas took over a Roman holiday that took place at the end of the calendar year. When you step back and thingk about this holiday, it's pretty poetic: at the very end of the year we celebrate and remember the birth of a child. As something comes to an end, something else starts.
Earlier this year MAD welcomed his first born into the world. With her birth, I was thinking about the limitless possibility that this little life has in front of her. There are no big screw ups, or great victories for this little one, just a big blank slate for her to do anything that she wants. I think that's what this holiday is a true marker of: People can always start over again, regardless, of what one has done previously.
When Life beats you down--and this is a matter of when and not if--you have to remember that you can start over. Regardless of what people may tell you, or what you may think, there is always a new beginning waiting for you. It may be a matter of changing professions, doing some heavy duty therapy, or a number of things, but there is always a way to turn things around.
I think I'm more aware of this idea more this year because of what I have gone through with my family this year. My dad--who was a recovering alcoholic--is now a full blown drunk. I understand that there is a physical component to addiction--I will acknowledge that it is a disease--but he has continually chosen alcohol over his family. He can start to choose a better life for himself any time he wants to. It's strange to watch a family member choose to kill themself and say no to having a relationship with their family. The brutal truth though--as Aunt Shelly said so poignantly earlier this week--is that it is impossible to have a genuine relationship with an addict as they are exquisitely self-involved.
My hope for 2008 is that my dad chooses to say "yes" to our family, and "no" to a life of addiction. But until he makes that choice, I'm just going to be waiting....and hoping.....
Namaste
posted by Zen_Accountant at 9:58 AM
3 Comments:
Keep hoping, always keep hoping.
This week my family began a new
journey--family therapy. We have had some sessions in the past to deal with momentary crises but have never
spent time learning to be.
We are complicated. I am a widow with no children of my own. I am independent, not motherly, analytical, intellectual.
I married a widower who had lost his wife and two children in an automobile accident. He was driving. He survived; his youngest
daughters survived. No one really
lives.
Once more I hope. I hope that this time we will connect. This time we
will all realize that life is short
and we must love and risk and suffer and try again.
Christ came to this world to love and risk and suffer. To me, this is Christmas--love. With risk and
pain and suffering and failure.
Wish us luck.
I know of an individual in my extended family with a number of medical problems. Severe diabetes and an addiction to betting on horses were the two most severe. The days where he could get out of bed, he was at the track. The days he couldn't, he spent screaming for his wife to leave a gun by the bed so he could end his misery. (He refused medical attention)For years his wife stuck by him, supporting him, his two kids, her two kids and the parents. Paying medical bills without the benefit of medical insurance. Then comes the heart attack and he gets a taste of his mortality. He survives and realizes that he wants to live and that his family is worth giving up his addiction. So besides having no teeth and a weak heart, he has sought the medical attention he needed and has cleaned himself up.
There is always hope.
MAD
You have a lot to look forward to this year....you should embrace what is coming. You never know what pleasant surprise is waiting for you just behind that major collision. Life has a funny way of shaking us up just to see where we will land. You are the cheese....just go with it!
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