This is what Christmas means to me: the return of hope, the season of joy, the spirit of love.
A very merry Christmas (and Happy Holidays, of course) to all my Beyond Blue readers!
This is what Christmas means to me: the return of hope, the season of joy, the spirit of love.
A very merry Christmas (and Happy Holidays, of course) to all my Beyond Blue readers!
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I have favorite sacred AND secular Christmas songs and am always thrilled when the radio stations begin airing them post-Thanksgiving even trhough I resent the stores who put up their Christmas displays anddecorations around the same (too early for me!--go figure!) My sacred favorites include (Of Course) O Holy Night, which a cousin and I used to quarrel over whose voicewas best suited to sing on Christmas Eves long past, 'Ave Maria," and "Lo, How A Rose Ere Blooming" while my secular favorites also tend to be the sadder romantic tunes such as "Blue Christmas or "I'll Be Home For Christmas." I have a fairly large collection of christmas CDs from which to choose, from almost EVERY type pf performer imaginable(From The Morman Tabernacle Choir to Bluegrass) and always have them playing in the background while decorating or baking. It wouldn't be the same otherwise!) And yes, I shamelessly tend to sing along in spite of my son's chastisement "Is that Whitney Houston singing, Mom? Why don't we let her do it?)
I have so many things to be thankful for that I can hardly even count them. Yet I have been diagnosed as "depressed." Sometimes that's true and sometimes not so much. Christmas Day was certainly a verified "yes" in the depressed category. I remain thankful for my three healthy children; my four healthy grandchildren; mine and my husband's health and well-being. I pray for the safe and healthy birth of the grandchild on the way. I pray for the safety of our servicemen and servicewomen who are far away; for those who may be ill and for those who care for them. I pray for the acceptance into heaven of our dearly departed and for the comfort of those they leave behind. I pray that I -- and those depressed as I have been diagnosed -- may live the lives we're meant to live, with or without this bother. I pray that our loved ones will understand.
Terri:
The Vatican should adopt your prayer verbatim (well, the armed forces part only applies as long as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars go on, but you know what I mean) as the "Prayer for Depression."
I mean it. That's simply amazing. Mr. Agnostic (sort of) is going to start saying it himself.
Teri, your prayer is amazing. I hope you will allow me to adopt it as my own as it is perfect. As my husband and family are gone, the section about our dearly departed has special meaning to me. Today, Dec. 31., would have been my husband's birthday.
Some people don't understand that we are grateful for our rich blessings, but we can still be depressed. While we can help ourselves with treatment, a good "kick in the butt" isn't the answer as some folks perceive it.
ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUNDLY BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS SONGS----GIVES ME CHILLS UP AND DOWN MY SPINE EVERY TIME I HEAR IT PLAYED, OR SUNG-----EXEMPLIFYS WHAT THIS DAY IS ALL ABOUT. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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