A WISH FOR UNDER THE TREE

Charles Wilkinson

“If there was one gift you could give to those you love, or, say, to the world, what would it be?”

“Peace,” came the reply, quickly.

“That’s something you can give only to your SELF.”

“Oh…I guess you’re right.”

“So?”

“Um, so…? How about…how about…  wisdom? Seems like we have all the knowledge we need right at our fingertips these days, what with the explosion of technology, with search engines like Googlegi. But wisdom, ah, true wisdom remains something of a rare commodity.”

“I take it that you have some of your own to share.”

“We all do – if we stop long enough to dig it out. For instance, how many realize that the most important thing in life is life itself? That the gift of being is priceless? That it’s not so much what we accomplish but who we are and how we become that’s really important?”

“So what are you saying?”

“That life is about self, ultimately. I’m not talking ego or narcissism; I mean ‘identity.’ And  ‘meaning.’ And the quest for ‘wholeness.’ What the gift of life is all about. If we could be wise enough to realize that, and live accordingly,  our world would be unrecognizable.”

“I can’t imagine…”

“And relationship. Life has to be about that as well. About others. About love. How many are wise enough to realize that love is the energy of living?”

“Wh-hoa. That’s pretty heavy stuff. You’re losing me.”

“Think about it. Love is the core of life. We know that. But wisdom tells us so much more, challenging our humanness to live fully within and beyond ourselves  like that baby from Bethlehem did. And too few magnificent others, before and after him, who risked doing so. They knew the power of truth, that love without the truth of self isn’t love at all. That kind of wisdom is eternal. And it is ours to learn from, to live into.”

“Life, self, love and truth. Ahhhh, the stuff that dreams are made of.”

“And babies as well, particularly who grow to show us that those are not just pretty words; that wisdom is not about language but about living; that wisdom is rare air in an open mind, the ‘uncommon sense’ we all need to truly celebrate the gift of life: self, love and truth. If one person could touch another with that idea, the way that Bethlehem baby eventually did, and still does, our world would be even more transformed.”

“Dream on, my friend.”

“I intend to. Meanwhile, help me with this, will you? How does one wrap a wish ?”

My Dear Brother Charlie wrote of Christmas, and this is a simple excerpt: “How many realize that the most important thing in life is life itself?”

“Life is about self, ultimately. I’m not talking ego or narcissism; I mean ‘identity.’ And  ‘meaning.’ And the quest for ‘wholeness.”

“And relationship. Life has to be about that as well. About others. About love.”

“Life, self, love and truth. Ahhhh, the stuff that dreams are made of.”

He goes on to say that at Bethlehem, (House of Bread in  Hebrew), the baby body of Christ comes down to us, the incarnation of God as life, love, and truth to be our Bread of Life.

And this is where I hear Boccelli singing “Panis Angelicus”: The Bread of Angels becomes the Bread of Men, in the House of Bread.

And finally, Te trina Deitas, the Threefold God leads us to eternal light. Amen.