ANOTHER CHANCE TO LOVE WELL

 



“The way you spend Christmas

is far more important than how much.”

Henry David Thoreau

 

On every Christmas and New Year, I have posted something. But, of late, writing for the sake of writing – no, I simply don’t like to do. I come to know, inside my heart, if the words come to me from the depth of my soul, or from the tip of my tongue...

Yes, Christmas and New Year have become quite a quiet time for me... a more reflective time. But, let me tell you this: there were many touching stories if I wanted to share in my blog... But, as I said, I simply let them be... Every story need not be shared... There is a time to simply ‘be’...

An elderly aunt of mine, shared this beautiful Post on the Christmas day. I am sharing it here, not because I am an old man or something like that. But, because, the more I think about Christmas and New Year, the more I become convinced, that these are times to reflect and evoke gratitude in our souls. Else, they are just two popular dates in our calendars...

Here is the anonymous Post shared by my aunt on this Christmas day:

 

ANOTHER CHANCE TO LOVE WELL

                 Anonymous




 



As we grow older, Christmas changes...

as the years go by.

Not in a way that takes something away...

but, in a way that reveals what was already there.

 

When I was younger, I thought

Christmas lived in the noise -

the torn paper, the last-minute assembling,

the full house,

the early-mornings that came too  fast.

 

I thought the magic was loud;

but, now I know it’s quiet...

It’s in the glow of the tree before the day begins;

it’s in the memories that arrive unannounced –

some sweet, some tender,

some carrying names I still miss.

 

As we grow older, Christmas becomes reflective.

Every ornament holds a season of life;

every recipe remembers a pair of hands;

every carol opens a door,

to who we were then -

before we knew how quickly time would move.

 

I didn’t understand back then

how fast children grow,

how parents age,

how, suddenly, a year becomes a memory.

 

But, here I am now – older,

a little slower,

and far more grateful.

 

Because, Christmas after we grow older

isn’t about the rush anymore.

It’s about the stillness that settles in

when you finally realize,

that time itself is the gift.

 

It’s holding the people you love a little longer;

it’s realizing what never mattered.

it’s thanking God for another December –

another breath,

another chance to love well.

It’s sitting quietly and realizing

that the greatest miracles were never under the tree...

they were around it –

every child,

every answered prayer,

every ordinary moment

that turned out to be sacred.

 

Maybe, that’s the beauty of growing older...

where joy is gentler,

gratitude is deeper,

love is wider,

and the meaning is clearer than ever.

 

And if you’re reading this,

may you rest in this truth,

even as the years change us,

God’s love doesn’t...

It was faithful then,

it is faithful now,

and it will be faithful

in every Christmas still to come.

 

Wishing you all a warm and happy Christmas.




 

These three boys came to learn from me when the financial situation at their home was dire. They lived is a humble room in a chawl. Their parents had no education. The father was a car driver and the mother was a simple homemaker. I remember, the mother coming to meet me for each of her sons and expressing her desire to educate them despite the tough times at home. “Sir, I will pay you when they start working. Please help them now.”

I did. And forgot about what I did...

On this Christmas day, one of the boys initiated a video call. “Sir, all three of us have come home for Christmas,” he said. The mother sounded so proud and grateful. Kids are well-placed in life... They have moved to a better and bigger house. “Sir, I will come to see you with all three of them after 1st January,” the mother said.




Was it a grand Christmas for me? No Sir, it’s a quiet, fulfilling one...

And, today is New Year... Should it be a similar one?

Yes, yes...

A Happy New Year to all... A quiet, fulfilling and reflective one.

 

GERALD D’CUNHA


Pic’s: Pixabay:  1. photosforyou   2. congerdesign

Video: Chris Rea /TheOldRecordClub

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