When I was younger, the Christmas holidays were always extremely busy because I sang in the church choir, participated in a musical youth group that sang at large city events, and accompanied my mother to hospitals and retirement homes to sing for those who were lonely and sick.
In remembering those days, I'm inspired to use the lyrics of familiar holiday songs to highlight the different ways that those we love may let us know that they're around.
If you're missing a loved one, it is easy to identify with these lyrics from Blue Christmas: "I'll have a blue Christmas without you. I'll be so blue thinking about you. Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree won't mean a thing if you're not here with me." Especially during the holidays, even happy memories can be painful because it seems that memories are all we have left.
However, the spirits encourage us to remember. From their perspective, it is our shared memories that give them a continuing place in our lives. Loved ones in spirit will often draw our attention to something that reminds us of happy times in order to lift our spirits. More times than I can count, a spirit will allude to a family joke or a special holiday tradition. Even if you allow yourself to experience one special memory, you can be assured that your loved ones in spirit are sharing that memory with you in that moment.
In the song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, these lyrics stand out: "Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more." Oftentimes, the spirits encourage those they love to surround themselves with people during the holidays. Even though you may not feel like being around anyone, the spirits may sometimes employ others to say "hello" in an unusual way. A young woman in spirit was shocked when college friends got together and one friend's husband started sharing a Christmas poem that her father used to recite to her when she was little. She had been missing her father terribly that Christmas even though he had died a number of years before. The real surprise was that this young husband had the same name as her father. That was a big "hello!"
Silver Bells (one of my mother's favorites) includes these lines: "Silver bells, silver bells, ring-a-ling, hear them ring." Do not be surprised if your loved ones celebrate their presence in your life by ringing wind chimes and other bells that you may have around the house. Even the ding, ding, ding of a car door can be used by the spirits to announce their presence - - especially if it dings at the wrong time. A woman told me that she was convinced that her mother in spirit said "hello" by dinging the egg timer she kept on the stove. The timer had been her mother's.
The Christmas Song by Mel Torme begins with these words: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire . . ." Favorite foods are a wonderful way to include loved ones in spirit in your holiday plans. Many spirits mention family recipes to me during sessions, but one woman's husband in spirit went further than that. When he mentioned a favorite dessert during a session, she told me that at a holiday pot luck dinner with friends, someone had brought that favorite dessert (an unusual confection with broken candy canes on top). She was sure that her husband got a kick out of pulling that one off!
In the song Chanuka, oh Chanuka using candles is mentioned: " . . . while we are playing, the candles are burning bright to remind us of days long ago." When we light a candle to remember someone we love in spirit, it is an opportunity to take a moment to reflect and remember those days long ago and not so long ago. The spirits often mention that candles are lit in their memory. Whether in a church or at home, our thoughts reach the spirits and we may feel their love in return.
And finally, here's a song that seems like a promise from the spirits to us: "I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree. Christmas Eve will find me where the love light gleams. I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams."
Please know that those you love will be home with you for the holidays. The presents on the tree may be an ornament made by a child's hand or a bell rung by a spirit's hand. Have no doubt that your love draws those you love ever closer and you may even experience a visit in your dreams.
For those of you on Facebook, please share how those you love in spirit have continued to share in your holidays.
