By Susan K. Boyd MS, MFT
How are you going to find your peace and joy in the New Year? With the world in turmoil we need peace of mind more than ever. You just put away your DVDs of ‘Home Alone’, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, and ‘Elf’. You are un-decorating your house. Secretly, you are glad life is back to normal. But you wish you could keep the hopefulness of the season as the calendar turns to an unpredictable 2016.
The recent mass shootings, covered nightly on Network News, may cause you anxiety. You think about it as you shop and return gifts or meet friends in restaurants. Is it possible to be aware of danger and still have peace and joy? It is.
We have, for a long time, needed to be more aware of our surroundings. Now we know it. And, now, we know why. For instance, experts explain, a deserted backpack sitting in a public place needs to be reported, immediately. Knowing where the exits are and being willing to move quickly, even at the risk of embarrassment if you are wrong about what you think you are observing, may save your life and that of your family. Most mass shootings are done in buildings and rooms where people become sitting ducks. Moving targets are not easy to hit especially if everyone is moving.
So, what was left of your holiday spirit may have just left you! Now you have to get it back and still know the world in which you live. That has been the situation, for many people through the ages, in many parts of the world. One family was a good example of how to navigate through tough times without losing hope.
Two thousand years ago in a middle-eastern country, occupied by enemies, lived a man and his, young, pregnant wife. During her ninth month of pregnancy they traveled several miles to their city of birth, Bethlehem. A census was being taken by Rome, and the couples’ lives would have been endangered if they had disobeyed the order. A long, treacherous, journey, a sudden labor and baby Jesus was born in a dirty, stable with a trough full of hay for a cradle. They were far away from their families, home and comforts of any kind. The world was a scary place.
If that was not enough to concern the couple, no sooner had the baby been born and a rag-tag bunch of strangers-shepherds-who must have looked homeless, came in to them from out of the fields. The men gathered around them and asked if they could see the newborn child. Then the shepherds told the couple, Mary and Joseph, how angels announced, that night, the baby being born and the hope for the world. The angels had appeared to them in the darkest sky in one of the darkest, most turbulent times in history and declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will toward men!”
Even in the most difficult times there is, always, good news. Look for that. Keep hope in front of you, joy and the spirit of the season through out the New Year. I wish a Happy New Year, ‘peace and good will’ to you all.
Susan K. Boyd is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in SLO. She can be reached for counseling by calling (805) 782-9800 or by email: [email protected]. Also see www.susankboydmft.com.
