"Walking through the city early this year, I saw a small red sign on the outside window of a corner store that read: Nostradamus predicted, in 2025 you will win BIG! Hilarity, I thought, as I strolled by mildly amused. I recall seeing this sign now as end-of-year reflections trigger contemplations for the upcoming year.
I did not achieve all that I had hoped this year, far from it, and perhaps in that we might find some commonality. I had a plan, something purposeful, but it's so interesting how something I thought was so big could be eclipsed by something indefinably bigger. It shifted my perceptions, deepened my understanding, called out my insecurities, and elicited my emotions into fearless expression. So if you thought it was merely acquired tokens in the arcade, think again.
Nostradamus predicted. It's Christmastime, and I'm seated tonight with a hot cup of coffee in the afterglow of my awakening. It's made me far less commercialized, more introspective, and beyond that, more grateful than any year prior. When I fought off the Old Hag at three in the morning with the Cross hanging above my bed--when I felt the physical power of the Cross against my chest, and the Spirit within me move--and who exactly was the shadowy form that visited me as I slept earlier this year, turning my head with such sensual familiarity?--Is gratitude large enough of a word?
Imagine a year without that. I'm sure you can, as I can. The Holidays--time off, staff parties, fake cheer, seasonal greeting cards, desserts, and booze to get you through it all! It's the only time each year when it feels normal to spend more, drink more, and celebrate more. I neither malign nor judge any of that, yet am now intuitively aware of how hollow it is compared to the Gift that keeps on giving, year-round, and with no interest or late fee penalties.
Nostradamus predicted that I would win, and like most great prizes hiding in plain sight, it's been staring back at me, reflecting what has already been foretold: the Kingdom of God is within you. In years past, I would've shrugged off the sentiment as another religious platitude, if I'd even been paying attention closely enough to register the phrase at all. Read it again, though, and then again.
The Kingdom of God, the source of all creation, lies within. We are made in the image of God, and carry His creative force within us in Spirit, and this is me declaring that I recognize the same Divinity in you, even if you've yet to see it in yourself.
When I was a kid, I'd always end up in some snow-themed theatrical production of Christmas wonder, and so, this year, allow me to don the persona of Holiday Fairy #3, bearing just one gift: Clarity.
💙 Chris
