OPINION (AN COLÚN): A state of mind coming from the heart of God

AMID all the giving and receiving of gifts I often think that the greatest gift of Christmas is not a physical object, but something of the mind – the gift of the attitude that we adopt to others, to our daily interactions with our community.
This state of mind comes from the heart of God and it draws our attention to the importance of peace and goodwill, of being forgiving of others. When we are absorbed in these feelings of peace and goodwill, when we are putting aside hurt and anger and replacing it with forgiveness, then we are in a very desirable space, a blessed and deeply contented space. The mental warmth we feel during this state of being is like a hug from a loved one, it's like being wrapped in a blanket of ease and compassion.
A great problem for the world is that after the Christmas season is over, many of us put this blessed state of mind to one side and descend down to a baser level. Our minds become seized once again by greed and lust and we lose sight of our moral compass.
Some of us though try to perpetuate the spirit of Christmas throughout the remainder of the year. This can be very hard, and often it feels like you are swimming against the tide. Sometimes it can feel as if everybody in the room disagrees with you, or everybody in the town disagrees with you, or indeed everybody in wider society at large. Naturally enough many of us crack under this pressure of the tribe and decide to go with the flow. We go with the flow and abandon our feelings, because we don't want the pain of being sneered at or criticised by others in the tribe. Often this going with the flow works out ok and no major harm is done. However, when the tribe or the Groupthink is seriously awry then damage can be done; in these difficult and stressful moments it behoves us to do the right thing, the appropriate, brave or heroic thing; in these pivotal moments it behoves us to be “nobody-but-yourself”, as the American poet EE Cummings puts it. Cummings believed that, “To be nobody-but-yourself – in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” Sometimes during the year we have to take a solitary stand and keep the spirit of Christmas alive.
The world is indeed often doing its best to make you fit in and be like everybody else. If you decide to go against this incredibly powerful herd instinct then you don't necessarily have to do anything terribly dramatic. It could be simple things like disagreeing during conversations with others who are being racist or sectarian, and reminding them of the simple truth that we are all creatures of God; it could be done by choosing to not be judgemental of other people's dress sense, mannerisms or body shape (even when others are sneering and denigrating of them) because you know there is much more to life than outer appearances (there is a whole world of love).
The strategic mind wants to blend into the tribe where the least amount of personal mental suffering can occur. The feeling mind blows that out of the water and stands on the side of individuality and justice. Cummings summed up the strategic, worldly mind versus the feeling, unworldly mind in this way: “Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever you think or you believe or you know, you're a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you're nobody-but-yourself.”
The heart of Christmas (and therefore the heart of God) can be found, can be experienced in a carol service or in a nativity scene.
We are sometimes so familiar with the nativity scene that we overlook its power. It depicts love, the bond of family and the warmth of human empathy and compassion. For a moment in time it is displacing the coldness and cruelty of the world beyond. Beyond is Herod and his cruelty; beyond is a brutal future of rejection and crucifixion. The nativity is an oasis of love. In our own lives many of us strive to transform our families and those around us into peaceful oases of love.
This warmth and compassion is present in every carol (certainly in every carol which I have ever sung). As we unite in song we experience a sense of what Heaven will be like, a place where there is no money or greed, no divisive emotions or segregation.
I participated in two Carol Services this year, the first as part of Tullamore Academy Choir in Moate and the second as part of Birr Choral Society in the RC Church in Birr. Both were very special occasions and were deeply rewarding to be a part of. As I sang I felt the truth of the words, “Light and life to all He brings, Risen with healing in His wings, Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.”