Christmas's Great Awakening (of the heart)
George Bailey
Ebenezer Scrooge
The Grinch
There's something about this time of year.
Each Christmas character features a moment in their lives when... something happens.
A spiritual awakening, from a sudden relinquishment or a sudden infusion.
A life-defining negativity (despair, fear, hate, cynicism) replaced with a beaming positivity (gratitude, service, love, and optimism).
For the two humans, a supernatural experience had them see the error in their negative attitudes—scared when suddenly seeing the ignored consequences of their attitudes, defeated when not wanting to proceed as they had been. Their emotional eyes snap open; their hearts erupt.
These men drop the darkness, or release it up, or purge it out—however we like to best conceptualize the phenomenon. Then, it's replaced. An overwhelming love fills the void.
For the Grinch, love suddenly dislodges his negativity. And it isn't a supernatural event that does it. Just those residents of Whoville, whose great act of positivity counters the Grinch's great attempted theft of their holiday spirit—a counterpunch to knock out the darkness of his heart with their loving spirit.
I said to my brother this last week: I want to live like Scrooge waking up on Christmas morning.
Why not be so happy and giving all the time? It seems like such an obvious choice to express such a joy that seems to perpetuate itself.
But life is busy and complex, and we're emotionally-laden creatures adjusted to the weight of emotions layered from before we were conscious. First we need to shed this—usually without the assistance of three ghosts visiting us at night. Then, like having to dust off the furniture, it takes maintenance and effort to shed the weight of regular negativity traps, allowing the lightness of love and service to shine from our hearts.
Good thing it's the holiday season, so we get these fairytale reminders and examples of the need and importance of doing so:)
Hope you start this week like Scrooge on Christmas,
-Brandon