Blessed is the season which engages the
whole world in a conspiracy of love.

Hamilton Wright Mabi

The holidays – with all of the fanfare, feasts and festivals – is a time, they say, for sharing and celebration. Yet for many, it’s a time when much of the love and joy is hidden underneath bulging bundles and the pressure of meeting family obligations. A radical shift in our thinking is needed so that we might move away from the love of things, toward the love of people, in both our close circles and the communities in which we live. As we affirm the love of people, we recapture the spirit of what the holidays are truly about: compassionate and consistent ways of caring.

I remember one Christmas, several years ago, when our daughter, Alexis, was about eleven-years-old. A couple of days before Christmas, I excitedly announced that we would be celebrating Christmas “differently” this year. And by differently, I meant we would be sharing our energy and love at a local soup kitchen, which at that time, was in Flint, Michigan. Alexis was both unsure and curious about spending Christmas this way, but she went and helped out as though she had been serving food to the homeless all her life. It may not be her favorite Christmas memory, but it planted a seed that fostered a very compassionate and giving young woman.

The holidays are a wonderful time to renew our emphasis on community rejuvenation. Everywhere we turn, we are presented with opportunities to turn our attention to the homeless, the incarcerated, the less fortunate and give them a Christmas every day of their lives. For Christmas is not merely a date, but a state of mind. A beautiful quote that embodies the truth of Christmas was once penned by George Matthew Adams, “Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.”

Gifts are fine if they are an expression of authentic celebration, of real care and joy, but if there are merely an automatic exchange, it is contradictory to the spirit of Christmas. A Course in Miracles invites us to celebrate Christmas by remembering, “The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness. See it not outside yourself, but shining in the Heaven within and accept it as the time of Christ has come.” The time is now for us to shine our light and be the miracle workers on this planet that we are meant to be.

This holiday season, let us be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas – to leave an indelible mark of compassion on our community throughout the entire year. Because after all, Christmas is not an external event at all, but a piece of one’s home that one carries in one’s heart.

Laura V. Hyde is the Spiritual Leader of the Circle of Spiritual Enlightenment in Central Coast, CA, a national author and speaker. Laura provides spiritual counseling and is the author of the books “Gifts of the Soul, “”The Intimate Soul,” and the host of the show “Relationship Wisdom” on Public Access Television. Visit www.laurahyde.com