Balancing the Sacred & the Secular

It's easy to bemoan the consumerism and superficiality surrounding Christmas. Seriously though, grumbling and grousing about it feels more Scrooge-like than joyful, doesn't it?

Though he wrote it decades ago, Unity Poet Laureate James Dillet Freeman shared a refreshingly positive perspective: "Christmas is as worldly as it is holy; it mixes the secular and the religious so that we cannot tell them apart. But isn't that the way we would like things to be? Wouldn't it be a better world if things were like that all year long? If every day had something of religion in it, and religion had something of every day?"

If we prefer the balance between spiritual and worldly to be weighted differently, the power to make the adjustment lies within. If I desire more joy, hope and peace, it's up to me. For the glory of Christmas does not depend on what we experience; what we experience depends upon glory radiated from within.

So what are your ideal mix of sacred and secular? Great. Now bring it!