What shall we do with this week of "suspended animation?"

Am I the only one who thinks this week of the year feels a bit unreal?

I always have. It's not Christmas anymore--and it's not
quite time for the New Year, either. Family gatherings are over and all the special events are past. After-Christmas sales beckon, of course, but even champion shoppers eventually tire of the sport. Or run out of money. 

Then what?

I unearthed an old piece I've loved for years in which an unknown writer offers suggestions that always keep me thinking. The original title was, "This Christmas ..." but I think these timeless words fit any season.   

HOW TO LIVE IN THE YEAR AHEAD

• Mend a quarrel.
• Seek out a forgotten friend.    
• Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.     
• Write a love letter.
• Share some treasure.
• Give a soft answer.
• Encourage youth.
• Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
• Keep a promise.
• Find the time.
• Forego a grudge.   
• Forgive an enemy.
• Listen.
• Apologize if you were wrong.
• Try to understand.
• Scorn envy.
• Examine your demands on others.
• Think first of someone else.
• Appreciate.
• Be kind; be gentle.
• Laugh a little.
• Laugh a little more.
• Deserve confidence.
• Fight malice.
• Decry complacency.
• Express your gratitude.
• Go to church.
• Welcome a stranger.
• Gladden the heart of a child.
• Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
• Speak your love.
• Speak it again.
• Speak it still once again.

Those last three lines say it all, don't they? 

Isn't that why we love the Christmas season? The gifts we gave, the Christmas cards we sent and received speak of L-O-V-E.  So do those notes and Emails to (or from) people we care about.

It doesn't matter how we connect. Telephone calls can charge us up because we hear the caller's voice. Just hearing dear voices can keep us smiling for a long time.

So why wait until next year to reach out to them again? 

Every Christmas the world around us feels more loving. That's fitting because  Christmas is all about love, as the blazing star over that humble manger reminds us.

The Christ child, God come to earth, is the ultimate proof that what we read in 1 Corinthians 13 is true: Love never fails. God's love never fails.  

Now there's a glow that lasts, through all time, through every week of every year.

As for what do we do with this week? Or any week?

Let's not waste a minute. Let's live!   

Blessings to you,    

Lenore