This morning, as I walked through the first snow of the year, I noticed the quiet stillness created by the gently falling flakes.  No other form of precipitation produces this effect.  Only snow.  My senses were heightened.  Noises sounded crisper.  I could hear the flakes falling on the leaves.  Images seemed clearer.  Every branch and tree…the detail of every house was outlined.  I could smell and taste the cold.  I felt like a part of the winter landscape.

So much in our high tech, artificial lifestyle deceives, alters, dampens, or overpowers our senses.  There is so much light, we can’t see the stars…so much noise, we can’t hear the birds sing…so many deodorizers, we can’t smell the flowers.  So much to do, we don’t notice.

Well, the holidays are upon us.  We are in the midst of a season that is meant to inspire us, to contemplate our beliefs, to reaffirm our convictions, strengthen our human connections, and dedicate ourselves to making this world we have been entrusted with, a better place.  We are each endowed with the power to do these very things.  But we have to recognize and choose to do so.  Like Scrooge, we are challenged to wake up and discover that humankind is our business.

Each and every day of the year, we are given chances to make real, beneficial, lasting differences in the lives of those around us in both discrete and obvious ways.  But first, we have to notice.  We have to be paying attention.

Only then can we expect to:
Speak thoughtfully
Touch gently
Act courageously
Love gracefully
Live intentionally

My gift to you this season is a song…one from my favorite holiday album with John Denver and the Muppets, A Christmas Together.  The words and music were written by Dan Wheetman and are performed by Kermit the Frog.  The message is for all of us.

The Christmas Wish

I don’t know if you believe in Christmas,
Or if you have presents underneath the Christmas tree.
But if you believe in love, that will be more than enough for you to come and celebrate with me.  
For I have held the precious gift that love brings,
Even though I never saw a Christmas star.
I know there is a light, 
I have felt it burn inside and I have seen it shining from afar.
Christmas is the time to come together,
A time to put all differences aside.
And I reach out my hand to the family of man to share the joy I feel at Christmastime.
For the truth that binds us all together,
I would like to say a simple prayer,
That at this special time,
We will have true peace of mind and love to last throughout the coming year.
And if you believe in love, 
That will be more than enough,
For peace to last throughout the coming year
And peace on earth will last throughout the year.

Whatever holiday you are celebrating, may the love, joy, and peace of the season be with you and yours throughout the coming year.