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{"id":12207,"date":"2016-12-17T04:40:10","date_gmt":"2016-12-17T12:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.strategicmonk.com\/?p=12207"},"modified":"2016-12-17T04:40:10","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T12:40:10","slug":"so-much-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/strategicmonk\/2016\/12\/17\/so-much-more\/","title":{"rendered":"So Much More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Christmas is almost here. Only a few more days.<\/p>\n

We may have certain requirements about Christmas. Some of us need the right songs or movies or television shows, or even plays or poems. I know people who demand to taste specific foods before Christmas becomes real for them. There are people for whom Christmas does not arrive until they drink\u00a0an eggnog latte. I know people who actually count the shopping days remaining until Christmas. Some people even think Christmas Day is about watching the Doctor.<\/p>\n

None of these things are bad in themselves, though they can distract us from what is\u00a0important. Christmas is so much more than any of them.<\/p>\n

Christmas is more than our likes and preferences, more than economics or\u00a0traditions. It\u00a0is more than giving gifts, flying sleighs, or shepherds and angels.<\/p>\n

Christmas is our\u00a0icon for deep, powerful, vibrant spiritual life. We click on it and it opens spiritual life to us.<\/p>\n

What we find is so much\u00a0more than we could expect or imagine, and intensely personal. Each of us is introduced to\u00a0the life that draws us into the sacred truths of the universe. Each of us is filled with the life that helps us discover\u00a0our own true selves.<\/p>\n

Christmas comes once a year. Do not waste it. Do not miss it. Give this Christmas the opportunity to do its work in you. Click the icon, and open everything spiritual life makes available to you.<\/p>\n

For me, it is helpful to sit quietly and watch lights in the darkness. Candles, a fire in a fireplace, lights on a tree, or even the yule log on television.<\/p>\n

What happens when you open the Christmas icon of spiritual life?<\/p>\n

When will you take time for spiritual life this Christmas?<\/p>\n

[Image by\u00a0Wesley Fryer<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"