Season's Greetings!

For as long as I can remember this has been used as a salutation in the run up to Christmas. It is a respectful way of spreading warmth to one’s fellow man regardless of their religious beliefs. Although it would seem strange to use the expression at other times of the year, the sentiment of spreading goodwill is valid all year round. In fact it is a fundamental component of healthy living to develop favourable, stress-free relationships in every sector of our lives. Since Stress is a major cause of illness we need to develop strategies for continuously detoxifying ourselves both physically and psychologically. Modern day stress seldom has the protective intention that ensured our survival throughout history. The story is told of how the guns fell silent in the trenches during WW1 on Christmas Eve. For a couple of hours the madness and mayhem of war stopped as the combatants recognised their common humanity. What a shame they needed an excuse to give pause to the killing. Such events are notable for their rarity. There has been no comparable account from the wars in Vietnam, DRC, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Aleppo or any of the scores of conflicts raging continuously across the world. In his challenging book ‘The Great Cholesterol Con’, Dr Malcolm Kendrick shows that the stress of displacement is a much stronger indicator of heart disease than cholesterol. So quite apart from the immediate danger from a stray bullet, the stresses of forced evacuation pose a long term threat to public health. So what’s to be done? It may feel futile to protest against wars in far-off places over which we have no control. Nonetheless, it is important to register our opposition and to avoid conflagration. Each of us however has the ability to bring calm to our own mind. When Ghandi said “Be the change you want to see in the world” it was an invitation to take peace into our own hearts where Steven Covey used to say ‘Is within our locus of control’. Each of us has a place of calm within which is constantly available to us. When we collectively learn to meditate peacefully we will give birth to a new reality for humanity. Our salvation will be born and it will be a Very Happy Christmas indeed.