The Optimism of Christmas 2022

Helen Keller: "Christmas Day is the festival of optimism."

Robert Masters, Chair of The Centre for Optimism: "Christmas is the time of joy and goodwill towards your fellowman. It is a wish and desire that everyone should share. It is founded on heart-felt optimism because that gives hope; that is my wish for you today!" 

Wendi Dawson, President, Melbourne Business Network:  "Christmas is the most optimistic time of year.  It’s the perfect time to reflect on the year that was, relax and recharge with friends and family, and reset for the New Year with renewed vigour and the belief that things will be even brighter!"

Charles Kovess, President, Australia-Hungary Chamber of Commerce & Industry: “Christmas reminds us of the power of love over fear. Christ’s message is that perfect love casts out all fear.  I say that the less fear there is in your mind, the greater your optimism will be. So, cast out that fear. And remind yourself that Christ has won, even though he was put to death on the cross. You can win, even though you think now you may be losing: that’s something you can be optimistic about!”

Amanda Noz: "The repeating traditions of Christmas make me optimistic. Making the same recipes as my Grandmothers and Great Aunties made creates a continuity that echos down through the decades. Eating Christmas lunch on the “good china”, bringing out the special tablecloth and serviettes and decorations, listening to Christmas music and connecting with friends and family, is all part of the magic of Christmas."

Jeff Kerr-Bell: "Putting up and dressing the Christmas tree each year with my wife and sons fills me with optimism. As I reflect on the decorations collected each Christmas, I am reminded of life’s joys and challenges, and how both myself and our family have accepted and overcome them, and are better for them. Given the last couple of years have been extremely challenging year for all, I am grateful for the people I am surrounded by and the connections and learning I have gained that launch me optimistically into 2023. Be realistically optimistic!"

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee (2022 Christmas Message): “The Christmas season is one of the most joyous times of year, when families, friends, and loved ones across Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns come together to celebrate, cherish longstanding traditions or create new memories, and reflect on the true meaning of the holiday. Christmas is a time of togetherness and celebration, as well as an opportunity for renewed hope and optimism for the new year ahead."

Creede Hinshaw: "I began thinking about children and waiting. I first concluded that children know nothing about how to wait. But after further reflection, there is another side to this. Children have to wait for almost everything. Accompanying that waiting, at least in terms of their birthday parties and Christmas, is a sense of sheer excitement and eagerness. That unbridled optimism and expectation is often missing once we become adults. Children have much to teach us about eager expectation."

Bishop Les Tomlinson (Christmas Message 2014): "It is during difficult times that one can realize the set of values a child or person possesses. Children must be taught to stick by their values and principles no matter whether the situation is good or bad. In order to educate in the family, it is necessary to step out of ourselves and be with our young people, to accompany them in the stages of their growth and to set ourselves beside them. Give them hope and optimism for their journey in the world. Teach them to see the beauty and goodness of creation, but above all, with your own life, be witnesses of what you communicate."

Gerald Ogle, Psychologist, CatholicCare Social Services: "What is normally a joyous time spent celebrating with friends and loved ones has in many instances been replaced with emotions such as fear, anxiety and loneliness. Many individuals may find their mental health under strain, having deteriorated as a result of all they have experienced this year. But despite these challenges, we can hope for better days, and, with mindful planning and preparation, approach this Christmas season filled with hope and optimism Indeed, this festive season can herald the advent of a new dawn for our mental well-being."

 Michael McKenna: "Take the opportunity to show joy, hope and optimism. And have a merry Christmas."

Galen Holley: "Charles Dickens’ timeless novella, “A Christmas Carol,” has been brought to life in several cinematic incarnations. My favorite is the 1984 version with George C. Scott. Like all great literature, the story never gets old and its enduring truths are as applicable to life today as they were when Dickens penned the story in 1843.  It’s fitting that one of the central emotional figures in “A Christmas Carol” is a child, the loveable Tiny Tim. He represents a children’s everyman, a pure soul who never complains about his predicament but continually inspires those around him with his generous spirit and unwavering optimism."

St. John Henry Newman: "All our human feelings are soothed by Christmas."

Read More on Christian Optimism


Bible Reading

 

Luke 2:1-7 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

 

Read "Bible Verses for Optimism and Optimists"


 

   Music for Christmas Optimism

 

We All Need A Little Christmas | Mame 

 

I Still Believe (Performed Live on "A Holly Dolly Christmas" TV Special)

 

Canticle of the Turning - Rory Cooney

 

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" by The Choir of King's College, Cambridge

 

Little Drummer Boy (African Tribal Version) - Alex Boye' ft. Genesis Choir

 

More Quotable Quotes for Christmas Optimism

 

Rev Kenneth Padley: "Hope is optimism. Hope is certainty. And hope is engagement. That is why we hope with expectation of the future, trust in Christ, and patience in waiting. Christian hope is bigger and better than we can begin to conceive."

William Willimon: "For some, Christ's [second] coming is terrifying. Old verities give way at his arrival. Those who make their living by the status quo do not rejoice when the status quo is threatened. Caesar trembles, empires topple, and the earth shakes. For those tied to the old age and its gods, its armies, its delusions of immortality, its false securities, the arrival of the Son of Man is bad news. `Apocalypse now,' cry the prophets of doom. Let us put away these prophets, close our eyes and speak optimistically of tomorrow. But those who have watched, who have heeded the signs, who have never made peace with the status quo, who have lived as if there were no tomorrow prick up their ears, straighten, stand on tiptoes. The Anointed One comes, their redemption is near and the world's doom becomes their deliverance".

Thomas Merton: "The certainty of Christian hope lies beyond passion and beyond knowledge. Therefore we must sometimes expect our hope to come in conflict with darkness, desperation and ignorance. Therefore, too, we must remember that Christian optimism is not a perpetual sense of euphoria, an indefectible comfort in whose presence neither anguish nor tragedy can possibly exist. We must not strive to maintain a climate of optimism by the mere suppression of tragic realities. Christian optimism lies in a hope of victory that transcends all tragedy: a victory in which we pass beyond tragedy to glory with Christ crucified and risen."

Monsignor Sabino Vengco Jr.: "Our present life is a matter of what is still to come. At no point is it everything already, nor is everything there. Our life is about birth, growth, and maturation; there is even fullness expected in the end of life, in death, into what is eternal. There are depths and dimensions in one’s life and in the world at large still to be discovered and explored, forces to be unlocked so that life can be brought to its full potential. Creation is in progress and its plenitude and completeness are waiting: an optimism that is an essential component of Christian faith."

Rev. Dr. J. Barrington Bates: "Jesus showed an unquenchable, confident optimism—even in seemingly dire situations. And he commanded us not to fear, but live in hope."

 Pastor Peter Ryan, First and Christ United Methodist Churches: "Today, our Advent “word” is hope. What is hope? To me, the word represents that which we long for. It’s a word of optimism. A word that says that while we may not be living in the best of circumstances right now, we believe in a better future. Somehow things will change. There will be a turnaround. Things will be set to right."

 

Heavenly Image from The European Space Agency

"even our planetary neighbors are getting into the spirit – as shown by this perfect pair of festive silhouettes spotted by ESA’s Mars Express. The defined wings of an angelic figure, complete with halo, can be seen sweeping up and off the top of the frame in this image from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera, while a large heart sits just right of center. These shapes appear to jump out of the light tan — or, in the spirit of the season, eggnog-colored! — surface of Mars; their dark color is a result of the composition of the constituent dune fields, which largely comprise sands rich in dark, rock-forming minerals that are also found on Earth (namely pyroxene and olivine).

Festive-Silhouettes-Near-Mars-South-Pole-1536x680 (1)

 

 

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