Difference Between Heart and Head

I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in Beit Lehem (Bethlehem), Israel. I wanted to experience the celebration of Christmas where it all started. Due to the fact that Beit Lehem is now in the Palestinian Authority Area, it is not a safe place to be alone. I signed up for a tour group that left from Jerusalem and was escorted by an arab tour guide for the celebration. As in Jerusalem and the rest of Israel, there were many soldiers carrying automatic weapons.

The experience I had there, including being in the manger at midnight on Christmas Eve, was awesome. To be in the energy of all those people who place such hope and joy in the Christ child was truly enlightening. When the bells stopped ringing at midnight, our tour group went outside to the Manger Square to regroup. This was at approximately 12:20AM. Apparently six of the group ignored instructions to stay together and went into the Catholic Mass which was not over until 2AM. We had to wait from 12:30AM until 2AM for them to rejoin the group. Most of our group was very unhappy about having to wait and wanted the tour guide to leave the stragglers behind. After all, they had ignored instructions and were forcing the group to be hours late in returning to their hotel rooms in Jerusalem. The guide asked me what I thought and I told him to wait, which is what he wanted to do. When the "lost sheep" finally returned, they were met with great hostility by the group. The guide could not understand why the group were so angry and why they did not want to wait. After all, weren't they part of the group? I told the guide that was the difference between having God in your heart and having God in your head. Compassion, patience and forgiveness are all signs that God lives in the heart. It was also very interesting that the guide, who felt responsible for all of his "flock" was an Arab, and the group ,which wanted to abandon the "lost sheep" were Christian.

Resistance

This is a time of great change, both for each of us personally and the world. We are constantly being reminded that we are all connected and that everything matters. The old metaphor that when a butterfly flaps its wings in the far east, a hurricane hits the African coast, is becoming more and more appropriate. Everything matters, and I mean everything. Every word that comes out of our mouths, what we put in our mouths, the clothes that we wear, whether we pick up that piece of trash on the sidewalk, all matters. One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is "it doesn't matter."
We are all going through great changes. My mother died recently and I met many relatives and friends I haven't seen in decades. We have all changed dramatically. Children are now independent and grown, adults have passed away, jobs have been won and lost, people are retired, etc., etc. Friends are going through times were projects are finally being completed and they struggle with finding something to do.
We all experience these changes, and we can either be excited about the possibilities of the future or we can resist. We can fight what is happening or we can accept it and deal with it. We can go into denial and insist that nothing is changing, like the ostrich burying its head in the sand. Life is a series of lessons. One of the biggest lessons we learn is letting go of the familiar and stepping forward in to great opportunities and possibilities. We can be excited about this or afraid. When we resist change, we struggle and volunteer for misery. When we embrace change, we get excited and embrace new possibilities. It is our choice.