December 2008
“Shall we make stars, Father Christmases or snowmen?” As ever, as Christmas approaches the question arises about what we will make to serve two purposes – to decorate our tree for the Christmas Tree Festival and also for the Little Dragons to take home for their own tree.
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We have chosen our colour – red – so will possibly make red stars with Father Christmas faces on to hang on the tree and make snowmen to stand around the base. As long as there is a mass of glitter and plenty of glue our small craftsmen will be more than happy. The biggest problem will be how to explain that the end product will need to stay on the Christmas tree until our last session of the term.
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It’s great to be a child – no worries about how to afford the presents, the extra food, how to heat the house at minimum cost. When we are children we are in a great hurry to grow up but on reaching the state of adulthood we often wish for time to stand still or wish we could go back a few years to days wrapped in the haze of dreams and greener grass on the other side of the fence; the days when our hair shone brightly and was easy to manage; when our teeth gleamed (or were our own) and our skin glowed with health that was matched by our energy and vitality. Yet, even as we age we needn’t lose the glow of youth – inside our heads and hearts. We might see a slightly different image in the mirror but our inner being can still vibrate with the fun and readiness for life that we have enjoyed in the past. Whatever may have happened to us during our lives, and some have suffered pain, ill health, loss, we still have within us the power to retain the joy that was there for the world to see maybe long ago in our lives and also the power to share that joy with those around us.
Sri Chinmoy writes:- Joy is the inner light that illumines my darkest night. When I am in joy, God feeds me. And I feed God only when I share my joy with others.
Val Butterworth 