Christmas peace to all

As we get older it's not always easy to find the Christmas spirit. In fact, sometimes it feels as though the holidays have lost their magical allure. Stress and worry - and the circumstances we deal with as adults - have a way of clouding the magic we remember as children.

There are times in life when we can't help but feel sad, but we must never allow negativity and hopelessness to consume our lives. It is during these difficult times that you must rely on your faith to give you hope.

Christmas is a time for us to gather with our loved ones and be grateful for all our blessings.

Sometimes when we can't find joy within us, we must search for it in the words of others.

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, And that every path may lead to peace." - Agnes M. Pharro

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas Tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." - Burton Hills

"Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again." - Grace Noll Crowell

"Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive." - Robert Lynd

"Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothings out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete." - Charles Dickens

"Christmas...that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved." - Augusta E. Rundel

"Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years. Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart." - George Mathew Adams

Whatever holidays you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, St. Nick's Day, or Los Reyes Magos; May you find peace, love and happiness in the comfort of your loved ones.

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Maria Luisa Salcines is a freelance writer, certified parent educator and corporate empowerment consultant with The International Network for Children and Families in Redirecting Children's Behavior, Redirecting for a Cooperative Classroom, and Redirecting Corporate America. Contact her at her Web site at www.redirectingchildrenrgv.org.