It’s early this year, I know! For those who know me, my Christmas Card usually arrives sometime in February — but this year, we’ll break with tradition, and celebrate early! đ The idea of sending this out after Christmas is in part to remind us all to celebrate Gratitude, Readiness, Openness and Willingness, and all the values of Christmas the whole year through… Perhaps this reminder is as much needed now as ever. We’ve all been through a lot this past year. One begins to wonder if there is any rhyme or reason to it all. This year’s Christmas Story invites us to consider another perspective on just how much of what we experience is the randomness of time and how much of it — well, as The Course In Miracles puts it, “What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good?“ And so,inspired by that idea, I offer the following short story for a quiet January afternoon. Perhaps you would like to make yourself a cup of hot chocolate, or bubbling herbal tea, or some delightful warm beverage, and take a few minutes to cozy up and enjoy this little story...
The Gift from the Cabinet with the Mullion Doors
by Arnold J. Mungioli
I could tell you what set it all in motion. I was there when the Youth arrived. He had a curiosity and a kind of insistence that comes from decades and decades of asserting oneâs free will, and never appreciating the true gift that free will is â or life for that matter. I had never been a fan of free will, myself â not when given to those in the physical realm, anyway. I had always maintained to the Supreme Being that life on earth was too great a gift for a Soul to comprehend, let alone handle their own choices. It would inevitably lead to pain and troubles. It was someone from the physical realm â went by the name of John Keats — who once wrote, âDo you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an Intelligence and make it a soul?â
Here we are!
2020.
1990 is officially 30 years ago!
And I remember so many moments of the Nineties and why do they seem so much more recent than they actually were?
When I think â30 years ago,â I am still thinking 1968!
Time is a most peculiar construct.
As folks mostly know, this is Messy March!
Oh, I realize we are nearly a week into April!
And Celebrating Messy March in April⌠isnât That Messy!???
Messy March is a Season I celebrate, and it is not literally the 31 Days of March, so much as it is a state of Permission to Make Mistakes, Try Stuff, Take a Risk, and Make a Mess.
I celebrate Messy March every year, and the timing is always So Perfect! It seems to show up just when itâs needed Most!
Not satisfied with where things are?
Take a Risk!
Make a Mess!
Boldly Dare!
Rarely do we risk everything and witness every next step of our Journey going smoothly.
When we brazenly risk, we shake things up!
And the first step of an improvement or a change of course can often be Mess
The Possibility for something new begins at the end of our Comfort Zone!
Itâs the stuff we need to do that we donât know how to do that will lead us to the next phase of our Journey.
And here we are
In the Messy Middle!
In the April of Messy March!
This March has been So Messy that I havenât even had time to publish this post until Now!
My friend RICK, whom you may have read about in previous Messy March Posts  and who was the Inspiration for this Seasonâs Creation, has been equally swamped and it looks like we shall be celebrating this yearâs Messy March sometime later this month!
And we invite You to do the same! (more…)
Nothing perks up a Winterâs Day like Baking a Batch of Cookies!
This week was a time to delight in Baking!
People have told me over the years that the timing in January is quite ideal, as having gotten through the Holidays and all of the treats that they bring, it is just the time when a new treat may be welcome!
I send Holiday Baking to my Accountant’s office every year!
It feels good to let them know that their hard work behind the scenes is Appreciated! They do such a great job, and are among the many unsung heroes that fill our Day to Day Lives.
I bake a few extra for MOM, my Partner, my Office, the NeighborsâŚ
Baking is always Fun to do! It is also a bit of work!
I find that quite often in Life those two things go together. (more…)
Fixing a cup of Sugar Plum Spice Tea …Takes only a moment!
I am very much a Christmas Person.
I Love It!
All of It!
I Love the Brightness of the Faerie Lights at the onset of Winter!
I Love the Kindness!
It also helps that my Partner is the Living Personification of the character of ELF that WILL FARELL played in the Movie.
I Love the Madness of Family Get Togethers —
Seeing Relatives I havenât seen in a year, when I am at my absolute worst — Tired and Bleary-Eyed and Feeling Overweight!
I Love the torpid wee hours of the morning wrapping presents for people I Love!
I Love creating some inspiring Christmas Card story that doesnât usually manifest until Valentineâs Day or sometimes Easter!
I hate SantaCon.
Last WeekEnd was SantaCon.
One of many Drunk Santa-Con-Artists passed out in Penn Station last Saturday for the children to see
Câmon! Using Christmas as an Excuse to get drunk and fall down in the street, plastered.
It seems ingenuous, Reactive — not in keeping with the Spirit of this Holiday — taking a hatchet to the Holiday and smashing it just for the sake of ruining it,
They were out in ill-fitting Bright Red Suits and wreaking a bit of havoc, creating a kind of PottersVille.
I Choose Bedford Falls!
I was spending time with MAMA who is approaching 90.
I choose âITâS A WONDERFUL LIFE!â
And thatâs the thing: You get to choose!
Do you wannaâ run through the snow calling out, âMerry Christmas, You Beautiful Building And Loan!!!â or do you choose to sit at your desk and count your money and snarl like a curmudgeon, âAnd a Happy New Year to you! In Jail!â
Itâs Your Choice!
Christmas is just a Week Away.
Create the Christmas you would like to have!
You want Bright Lights?
Hang a string — takes five minutes!
We wear our Christmas Socks to Work! It brings us Cheer!
You want to have a Lot?
Give a Lot!
As THE COURSE IN MIRACLES tells us, âHaving rests on Giving, and not on Getting.â
Want to feel some Christmas Spirit?
Go and Help someone in need.
Offer some Kindness.
Create some Holiday Magic where it is least expected.
âŚCan be a simple thing!
Nuthin’ sayin’ we can’t don a Santa Hat while we work
Commercially, the Season is rushed to create a kind of buying frenzy.
But Actual Christmas?
It happens Simply.
And without Pressure.
Itâs Fun.
Itâs not a StressFest.
Itâs a MagicFest!
Sometimes we pause in the middle of work to listen to our friend & colleague’s favorite Christmas Carol from when he was a Child — This is us on the “Ole’ Ole’ Ole'” part
When I was a kid, the Tree went up Christmas Eve.
(SANTA brought it!)
There was no âBlack Friday.â
(And if there was, nobody paid any attention to it!)
You didnât even think about Christmas until around December 15thâŚ
Then, all of a sudden (and at the same time feeling it had taken forever to arrive), there was a rush of excitementâŚ
âIn just over a week, itâs Christmas!â
You began to make a List and shop for some presents.
You might decorate a little bit the weekend before — certainly not more than a week in Advance!
SANTA brought the Tree.
It was simply decorated and went up Christmas Eve Night.
You would often Make Gifts!
MOM sewed and DAD assembled toys.
It was FUN!
It was MAGIC!
And there was No Pressure!
It was something you did because you wanted to do it!
It was all focused around the day itself.
The SEE’s Candy Order arrived last night! Ready for Treats…
So, if youâre like me, and you are Crazy Busy at Work right now and feeling like you are way behind because you havenât started it yet,
Itâs Not Too Late!
In fact, youâre Way Earlier than we used to do it!
So have your Christmas!
Choose Christmas!
It is yours for the Taking!
âŚYours for the Making!
Maybe you wannaâ bake a batch of cookies or Pumpkin Bread this Weekend?
Maybe you wannaâ pick up a Christmas Tree and decorate it?
Maybe you wannaâ Volunteer at some Holiday Event at a Soup Kitchen or Homeless Shelter?
Maybe you donât have 60 days to prep for Christmas,
But maybe it doesnât take that!
Itâs still over a week away.
In the Sixties, we were just beginning to think,
âHmmmmmâŚ. What would I like to do for Christmas this year?â
A spontaneous purchase while at TRADER JOE’s — There will be some Kissin’ this Christmas!
vul¡ner¡a¡ble (vĹl nÉr-É-bÉl) adj.  1.a. Susceptible to physical harm or damage b. Susceptible to emotional injury, especially in being easily hurt c. Susceptible to attack
—American Heritage Dictionary
The Deaths of those 49 kids in Orlando kicked off this tumultuous Summer in the shadow of what I find to be a fairly Terrifying Presidential Election Campaign, all making us aware of just how Vulnerable we are.
Grieving for the Lives of: (more…)
âGod placed in the mind the call to Joy. This call is so strong that the ego always dissolves at its sound.â — T, 69. The Course in Miracles
What is your Call to JOY?
Is it to Write?
To Sing?
To play some Musical Instrument?
Is it to Paint?
To Garden?
To go for a Walk?
Is it to enjoy an evening with Friends?
To see Theater?
To bring a child to see a Movie?
To build a Snowman?
To build a treasured Memory? (more…)
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
THE SIXTH SENSE
SAINT RALPH
I AM
PRIDE
THE GOOD LIE
MAO'S LAST DANCER
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
CALENDAR GIRLS
WALK ON WATER
CINEMA PARADISO
SLIDING DOORS
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
LOCAL COLOR
BREAKING THE WAVES
EVERYBODY'S FINE
READY? OK
INKHEART
THE LIVING END
MARRIAGE, ITALIAN STYLE
THE BUBBLE
BIUTIFUL
GYPSY w/ ROSALIND RUSSELL
and Anything by PETER HEDGES
Whatâs New?
Live The Questions Now 