CHRISTMAS LOVE IN TIMES OF COVID.

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CHRISTMAS LOVE IN TIMES OF COVID. 

A friend of mine sent this to me and said it was her Christmas gift to me

 with all her love.  And she was laughing.🌹 I told her not to laugh because the gift was symbolically perfect, I accept it and I am grateful.  True love does not weigh too much, it is upright, erect and attentive. This gift can be a perfect symbol of Christmas love in times of Covid, a thin but fibrous love, without makeup.

In times of Covid, love is minimalist.  It is not too fat, because it does not have all the ornaments and luxuries that we usually give to things in times of abundance.

 In times of Covid, we are advised to spend as little time as possible with others, visit less, share less (not have things in common with others), to avoid contact with friends, family and loved ones who are positive or have been in contact with people diagnosed as positive with Covid 19.

Also, public gatherings, social activities, bars and clubs are limited or prohibited.

In short, it is a time of minimal love.

Does this mean that love is less authentic, less real, or less profound when it is minimalist?  Not at all.

When love is fattened with unnecessary ornaments, including some lies and flattery, it can become obese and therefore overwhelmingly stressful.

I think about the many  people who will not be able to see thier loved ones this Christmas, because they have declared themselves positive or have been in contact with someone diagnosed positive with COVID 19.

Think about how creative it must be to express their love to each other. Think about all the time they used to spend together, how much they talked and how little they said to each other ... Compare it with how little they talk now and how deep and heartfelt their conversations are likely to be.

Do you miss some people you used to think didn't matter to you? Are there people you thought you could do without them  and now you see that they mean more to you than you thought?

Christmas in times of Covid is a feast in times of scarcity. In times of lack we learn not to waste our resources, everything is valued, seen and used exactly as it should, there are no excesses or abuse of people , time and resources.

Minimalist love is not less love, it is just love expressed in a different way, it is unadorned love ... It can be an opportunity to see love in its purest form.

 I don't know what Christmas means for you.  Perhaps you are one of those who simply call it " holidays". Perhaps you are one of those who believe in Santa Claus or Papa Noël, in the stories of Elves and Elfer or simply in the excitement of shopping  new things at Christmas. Whatever makes sense to you , I don't want to judge you or ask you to change your beliefs, I have mine too.

However, on this day I wish to remember the many Christians around the world who are celebrating the anniversary of someone very important to them.  They call him , Emmanuel, a name which means "God with us."  They do not care about the exact date, what matters to them is the fact and its meaning.

Again, I don't know  who or what God is to you.  Give it the name you want. What is more, I don't even care if you believe or not, whatever has meaning and gives meaning to Your Life is ok by me.

But I remember an old Christian named John, who was  exiled by the Emperor Domitian, and lived on the Greek island of Patmos, who said that for them, "God is Love."  In other words, Christmas according to Christians, is Love that becomes visible among people ... Emmanuel ... Love made real amongst us in the form of a little child.  How cute, how beautiful.  

I love imagining that little baby as a promise of change, growth and progress, and also as motivation for starting over again, a symbol of second opportunities.  And you, how do you see it?

Are you one of those who want the word Christmas to disappear, so that you can replace it with the word " holidays" without any Christmas meaning? Think it over again.  Think about the so many people who believe in and are motivated by Christmas.  I think there is enough room for everyone and their beliefs and nothing nor anyone has to disappear for you or your beliefs to fit in. 

In a nutshell, Christmas is and can be a time or a feast of love, tolerance, respect and acceptance among all the  peoples of the earth.

No matter how we decorate, embellish or call love, it doesn't even matter if we believe in love or not, what really matters and the only thing that matters is loving and feeling loved. 

May the excitement of Christmas open us up and make us more receptive and responsive to Love. 

Merry Christmas everyone.

Jude TV King

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