Gratitude, Happiness and the Season of Goodwill

December is the month of the year when many in predominantly Christian countries look forward to celebrations, merriment and joyous exchanges of gifts. The atmosphere at this time is usually charged with feelings of goodwill and fellowship. And during this brief interval many may experience some peace and happiness, or recall and yearn for happier times.

As anyone who has truly experienced the Spirit of the season knows, it is not the material exchanges that makes the season so special. Nor is it in belonging to the Christian religion, for whom the key event of the season, the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, was established.

Rather, anyone who wishes and makes the effort can be swept into the spirit of the season, to partake of its blessings of goodwill, fellowship and brotherhood of man. It is only through this that the celebrant can hope to experience the inner happiness and peace that the season promises.

Unfortunately, it is becoming more difficult to experience the blessings of the season because of the chaos and confusion in which the world is immersed.

As anyone knows, confusion and chaos create disturbances that rob the soul and the mind of calmness. And, lack of inner calmness makes it difficult to truly harbor goodwill and fellowship towards others. At best one may not wish another ill will. But that is not the same as exercising goodwill.

Goodwill requires active participation by a person. A conscious decision to want to help a fellow human being. However, as already mentioned, true help is never the material things or gifts that one offers or gives. It is the things that we do to help another person gain inner peace and calm that really counts. And, we do this through our thoughts, words and deeds.

Actually, upon quiet reflection, it should become obvious that material gifts are only a means to an end, and never the end itself. For example, money only serves the purpose of purchasing what a person needs. Same with giving the material as the gift.

Ultimately, any true gift only serves the need of the soul; be it a feeling of appreciation, help to attain or maintain self-respect, security or, inner calmness/harmony.

It is in experiencing inner peace and calm that real gratitude can well up within the receiver. And, it is this sensing of true gratitude that actually brings joy and happiness to the beneficiary. The genuine giver will also experience gratitude for being able to help, and through this experience joy and happiness.

Therefore, the secret to the happiness that fills the atmosphere during this season is not in the exchange of gifts and merriments. Rather, it is in the increased level of gratitude that pervades the atmosphere.

It is also the reason why many try to recall this season with yearning for the happier times from the past. In so doing their soul wishes to relive memories of gratitude that may be forgotten.

Unfortunately, as we go from childhood to adolescence and then to full adulthood, we usually begin to harbor expectations. The more self-centered our expectations, the more rigid we become in assessing what it takes to satisfy us. As a result, we unconsciously rank anything that is given to us. This unconscious ranking makes it difficult, if not impossible, to be grateful for whatever we receive, because “it may not meet our expectation”. Even when it should meet our expectation, the initial feeling of gratitude is almost immediately marred by an inner, but unspoken, wish that we should have wanted or deserved better.

By contrast, an innocent child or a contented person is ever happy at whatever is given to them. And that happiness is expressed in their gratitude, which the parent or giver can also experience, to elicit joy in them too.

Therefore, anyone who wishes to truly enjoy the blessings of the season has to learn to cultivate a sense of gratitude. Although this is becoming very difficult in our self-entitled and materialist world, miracles can and do occur. And, the miracle that mankind is in dire need of cultivating and experiencing is gratitude, for that is the only path to the true happiness that we all seek in this and every other season.

Perhaps the following quotes will help those who are ready to strive after this miracle.

Colossians 3:15 (The New Testament of the Bible)

"let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,….. And be thankful."

Popular Saying

"You will never get what you want until you are grateful for what you have."

Surah Ibrahim (Koran)

“And remember when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely My punishment is severe.’”

The Grail Message (In The Light of Truth)

The most beautiful gratitude is pure joy! If men would live according to the Will of God they could actually find nothing but joy on their wanderings through the Worlds of Matter! That there is also sorrow is the fault of men alone, for sorrow is alien to the Light.

Men have brought about darkness, and with it sorrow, for themselves, and in their rigid obstinacy have become so entangled in it that in the end it has become quite impossible for them any longer to find the paths that could lead them out of it.

With the reawakening of the true meaning of gratitude, we should come to an even greater appreciation of the huge sacrifices made by many who descended into the depths to help free us from our self-imposed captivity. These helpers have always been met with hostility from us who they came to assist. Not even the highest of them all, Jesus Christ, was spared this hostility.

So, as we celebrate and remember his birth, may we also experience the shame of our failures, and resolve this time that His coming would not have been in vain, at least for the one striving. And this he or she can do by living only according to the Will of God as contained in Christ’s teachings. 

Amen!