The month of December is supposed to be a return to the love and kindness that are living in each of us who believe in faith, hope and charity. It is said that all religions believe in some form of a basic love for others. And in December a large part of the people that live on our planet seem to ascribe to this idea or belief.
If only all of us would truly return to the basic idea of a love for other people, no matter what their standard of living or station in life. Then a return to a basic humanity would become obvious and everyone could at last live in peace. For peace is just caring for others no matter what someone else might try to force you into thinking. This also implies individuality, being able to think for yourself.
The problem with individuality is the control that others place upon those that naturally think freely. Governments, offices within a government, federal, state and local restriction and regulations, and even social pressure from friends and neighbors. If the controls are valid and help us to exist peacefully, then all is well. However, the converse is often the case, and this is where the basic problems begin. Too often humans act very differently when they gain a measure of control over other people. Power then becomes very important to those in control so that they are able to stay in control and even escalate their control. The history of the earth is full of examples of the use of control and power, both benign and evil.
With the above in mind we are able to see that a return to love and kindness and consideration for others, no matter who they may be, is not very easy or maybe even impossible at times.
December, however is an opportunity for hoping, praying and becoming an example of the way we all would like to live spiritually. Also by trying different ways to cause a change of heart in those that have become hardened by existing through the realities of living day to day. This is the value of celebrating Christmas as the birth of Jesus as our Savior who has lighted up the path to our salvation; the One who has given us meaning and hope by showing us the way to live our lives. If we all would only listen and then believe and then create action by the examples of our own lives, we might build a better, more sturdy foundation for ourselves and others for the coming New Year. We at least need to try to return to a simpler way of thinking so that the complexities in our life can become more manageable.
Technology has always been a blessing and a curse. Simpler means, for the most part, controlling the power that technology has over us at all times and everywhere. Also not easy. This has been a recurring problem throughout history. New inventions and discoveries have been beneficial and also harmful. The wheel, fire, electricity, machines, factories, clocks, archery, gunpowder, lead and most other metals and minerals, etc. The cause of a lot of our grief is our dependency on technology and dealing with its escalation. The first step toward simplifying is being aware of the problem. Then we gradually move toward a change of heart.
By simplifying we also create some room for imagination to once again appear. Thinking, dreaming, imagining have all but disappeared with our younger generations. This includes reading books instead of watching movies which condense most everything. Creating space and time in our minds is not only important, but necessary to thinking, and thinking more deeply than our present addictions allow. So in this December let us think about a return to being able to think by simplifying. Where and how we begin is for each of us to discover.