Love Reigns: A Christmas Reflection

These past three weeks, as I held my grandchild in my arms, surrounded by my grand pets, I was reminded of what my mother, my father, and my Deity have always shown me: the most important thing in this journey we call life is love.

There is a sacred simplicity in cradling a child who melts into your chest with complete trust, and lying beside a grand dog who offers unconditional presence. In those moments, I understood why my father always said he was never a millionaire, but he had something greater, the love of family and friends. That, he believed, made him the richest man in the world.

This season of light, whatever your beliefs or whoever you worship, the story of Jesus reminds us that love is the true measure of a life. It surpasses worldly goods, titles, good health, ill health, and everything we cling to or worry about.

As I sat immersed in what so many lovingly call the best gig in life, grand parenting, I came to understand how deeply true this is. In those moments, nothing else mattered. I forgot about my cancer. I released my to do list. I let go of responsibilities. My only task was to love this tiny human, breathe in rhythm with him, and simply be.

My spiritual advisor reminded me that love is the force that exists beyond our bodies, our minds, and our egos. It is our spirit. It is what remains when fear fades and when the noise of the world softens. This love defies our worries, dissolves our angst, and steadies us in the unknown.

So this time of year, no matter your beliefs or traditions, I ask all of us to pause for a moment and choose love. Not gifts. Not status. Not being right. Not being better or doing more.

Choose love.

For in choosing love, we discover the true meaning of Christmas. A small baby in a manger taught the world the most profound and enduring lesson: love reigns.

My hope for each of you is simple. I hope you have someone to love, and someone who loves you. But the first and most essential love is the love you give yourself. When you embrace yourself, your scars, your cancer, your faults, your regrets, something miraculous happens. They lose their power. They fall away.

That is the power of love.

And that is the spirit of Christmas.

With love,

Betty Jean