It’s a time of year when traffic is thick and patience is thin, when there is still too much shopping to be done and not enough hours or dollars to do all you want to do. Maybe someone slighted you at the office Christmas party or you’re not sure you want to face another family gathering so soon after Thanksgiving. All of this results in stress that may not be entirely relieved by the promises of the season.
Now, perhaps more than at any other time of the year, it’s critical to pay attention to what you are putting out there. Thomas Merton, in his book New Seeds of Contemplation, discussed the fact that every moment and every event of your life plants something in your soul. There are no exceptions, but you have the choice in every moment of what to plant.
If you respond in anger and impatience to the traffic, you increase the anger and impatience in the world as well as in yourself. If you react with a negative, sour comment to the actions of other people, you plant more negativity and sourness in your own soul. And regular reading or watching of violent “entertainment” leaves scars within you where you least want them to be.
Make the choice this season to gain peace in your soul and in your life by planting peace, ridding out violence, and granting to everyone else complete acceptance and endless forgiveness.
