A TIME TO REJOICE IN THE GOOD THAT WE SEE

Vivek Anand is one of my favorite students. He is a well-brought-up young-man and, he has been studying, all along, in one of the finest schools around… He is very focused, highly self-disciplined and very proud of the family he belongs to. He comes about extremely confident… yet, very humble and respectful.

Yes, I am proud Vivek is my student!

This morning, Vivek was in my class some ten minutes before others. So, while we were having our general discussion, he excitedly said, “Sir, I wanted to tell you this; I had been for the open-air mass on Christmas night with my close friend… I really felt good.”

Vivek has been a very regular follower of my daily blog-posts. Hence, I told him that I would be writing, today, on the subject: “A time to rejoice in the good that we see”. I told Vivek that it was, incidentally, inspired from Cliff Richard’s famous Christmas-song – ‘Mistletoe and Wine' (It is Christmas Time).

“I would love to read it, sir,” Vivek said.

I wanted to tell Vivek why I had taken this subject and what I wanted to convey in my Post. But, before that, Vivek made a casual remark, which almost everyone is heard making. “I think sir,” he said, “the way our country is going, soon, we may end up joining the select group of some of the barbaric countries of the world, such as…………..!”

“No, Vivek, we won’t,” I quickly told him. “We tend to get shaken by some sporadic incidents that happen around and come to such extreme conclusions. We tend to ignore all the good things that happen around… We mourn in death and fail to rejoice in life… And each time we fail to rejoice in life, in the good that we see – Vivek, we die one more death!”

From there on, we spoke about the positive things Life had to offer us, in abundance, each day… We spoke about the real reasons why we had to be grateful and happy… why we should not get bogged down by a handful of gloomy incidents… why we should not lose faith in living and believing… why we should refuse to keep alive in our hearts the fire of blame and hatred… why we should forgive and forget…

I am glad, Vivek was quickly able to see the point I was trying to make…

So, here I have the song, which, although Christmas is a week behind, still compels me to reach for inspiration:

The child is a king
the carollers sing
The old has past
there's a new beginning.
Dreams of Santa
dreams of snow
Fingers numb
faces aglow
it's -
Christmas time
mistletoe and wine
Children singing
Christian rhyme.
With logs on the
fire and gifts on
the tree
A time to
rejoice in the
good that we
see.
A time for living
a time for believing
A time for trusting
not deceiving.
Love and laughter and
joy ever after
Ours for the taking
just follow the master.
Christmas time
mistletoe and wine
...
Silent night
holy night -
It's a time for giving
a time for getting
A time for
forgiving and for
forgetting.
Christmas is love
Christmas is peace
A time for hating
and fighting to
cease.
Christmas time
mistletoe and wine
...
Christmas time
mistletoe and wine
...
Christmas time
mistletoe and wine…

And, today is 31^st December, the last day of the year. The theme of the song, my heart says, is even more relevant, filled with even more hope.

Was the year so bad? So depressing? So hopeless?

Have we rejoiced in the good that Life had to offer us during the year gone by, or have we only lamented on the sad episodes that came, now and then, as just interludes?

Do we know what will happen to our lives if we walk into the new-year carrying in our hearts all our old, gloomy-baggage?

How can we expect the New Year to be ‘happy’ when we refuse to believe that the Life had more good to offer than bad… that there are more happy memories to take to the next year than the sad ones… How can we expect the New Year to be ‘happy’ when we are unwilling to drop our combative mind-sets… when we refuse to climb down from our judgment-seats?

 

New-Year messages have been pouring in… 

All of them are well-meant; 

they are from our near and dear ones… 

No matter how gloomy, sometimes, 

some episodes in life are, 

Life is still beautiful, still glorious… 

It is only that, we forget to acknowledge this truth, this divine reality, every time we see a dark cloud… That’s all.

Some twelve years ago, when the new Millennium was just setting in, Cliff Richard had sung another famous song. It was, in fact, not a song… it was a prayer. ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, we Christians call it… When His disciples had urged Jesus to teach them a simple and practical prayer, He had taught them this one… And, no wonder Cliff Richard chose to sing this prayer and call it the ‘Millennium Prayer’…

With all my sincerity, I dedicate this song – this prayer – to you, to my beloved nation and to this lovely world… which is so filled with hope and goodness… so filled with the promise of Life.

A very happy, peaceful and prosperous New-Year to all of you.

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic:. Amrita Jeurkar Lyrics and Video courtesy: YouTube.