My dear readers, first of all, let me remind you: Christmas is a Christian holiday, and this year it lasts 3 days, as well: Sunday 25, Monday 26, and Tuesday 27 (which is also the Day of St. Stephen the Deacon, the first martyr of Orthodoxy).
Christmas is the holiday of stuffing, debauchery, and crazy parties, after which one ends up even more tired after straightening things up around the house of the Savior’s birth – for Christians. For the supporters of Atheism, Agnosticism, Ecumenism, Gnosticism, New Age, Posthumanism, etc., it may be everything that I have crossed out in the previous sentence. For this reason, I do not wish them Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, but I want them to moderation and not go too big.
As for those of you who will celebrate Christmas (i.e., the Christian holiday) this year, I wish you:
- To wisely tread on God’s path and inspire others to do the same,
- Good health, protection from temptations and immediate physical dangers,
- Lots and lots of patience,
- More satisfaction with what you have,
- Determination, concentration, perseverance, ambition, and tenacity in planning success, not experiences,
- Heating as functional and cheap as possible in your radiators and on the water columns,
- Acceptance, tolerance, understanding, peace, and calmness,
- And finally, as for the household chores and planning these holidays, I have one more unusual piece of advice for you:
- “HO, PRRRRR!” (Meaning: make time to smell the roses, in the words of Ionuţ Ciurea. What do you mean by “which roses”? Those next to you, those you have in your hearts). Open the Bible for a while, search through the New Testament, and guide your mind and soul towards reading from Philokalia or the Paterikon of Laymen. I’m sure you will discover things that would change your perspective – or at least remind you WHAT you should be happy ABOUT. Those wishing me a “Happy Anniversary” on St. Stephen’s Day are kindly asked to leave a comment here.P.S.: This article is halfway a pamphlet aiming to prompt meditation and smoothing of foreheads. I apologize to the persons that might have felt offended by what I wrote in this atypical post – please forgive me.
Thank you!
Text Copyright © Marcus Victor Grant 2011-present. Translation by Cristiana Brezeanu in 2017 of the article ”Crăciun fericit!“ originally published in Romanian in December 2011 on Discerne. Text Copyright © Marcus Victor Grant, all rights reserved.
Analytic Vision 