\n\t<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI grew up Catholic<\/strong><\/span> with the tradition of the birth of Jesus celebrated on December 25 of each year. I remember several Christmas holidays spent at my grandparent’s home in upstate New York. For the Christmas dinner, I sat at the children’s table next to the grownup’s dining table, with my two brothers. Our table was a folding card table. The same one we played Chinese checkers on. I loved the feeling of togetherness with my aunts, uncles and cousins. The house was filled with an energy of closeness.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe years my family lived in Florida,<\/strong><\/span> we celebrated Christmas with a live Christmas tree. Decorating the tree was a family tradition. My dad strung the colored lights and placed the angel on the top branch. My mother handed us the glass ornaments to place on the tree. Silver tinsel was placed one piece at a time. We hung cellophane wrapped candy canes on the tree branches. We didn’t have store bought Christmas stockings. We used my dad’s large wool socks and taped them to the large television set cabinet because we didn’t have a fireplace or a mantel to hang them from.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI can still remember the feeling of excitement when my dad started “putting up” the Christmas decorations on the walls of the living room. They were made of white styrofoam, shiny ribbons and glitter. There were four 3-foot long candy canes and one that spelled “Merry Christmas”.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAs a family, we watched<\/strong><\/span> “Rudolph The Rednose Reindeer”, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and of course, “The Macy’s Christmas Day Parade”, on TV, on Christmas morning.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI enjoyed attending Christmas Mass at midnight with my mom. The church was always filled with people. The area behind the altar was decorated with colored lighted trees and a manger scene of the Holy Family.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMy brothers and I always woke up before <\/strong><\/span>my parents on Christmas morning to see the Christmas packages under the tree. When I was seven, in New York, my first bicycle was sitting outside the back door of the house, white snow falling on it.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMy mother always prepared a delicious feast for Christmas. Served at two in the afternoon, we ate ham or turkey, dressing, vegetables, rolls, and pie for dessert. We had plenty of Christmas cookies and fudge.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI believed in Santa Claus until a friend<\/strong><\/span> of mine in the fourth grade, told me on the school bus, my parents are Santa. “There is no Santa Claus”. I was very disappointed. I sat there quietly and said to myself, “At least I have the Easter Bunny!” I believed in the Easter Bunny longer than I did about Santa! I did confront my mom and she told me the truth about Santa. I didn’t discuss the Easter Bunny because I wasn’t ready to handle the truth. It felt good about believing in the fantasy.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSince my childhood, <\/strong><\/span>I’ve grown up<\/a> and now understand that Christmas isn’t about shopping, material gifts and the hectic frenzy about finding that great sale at the store. My Christmas each year is a journey inward. On Christmas Eve I meditate and focus on the love and peace within my heart. I send that vibration out to everyone in the world and out to the Cosmos. And even though I do this through out the year, it’s my gift<\/a> I give to myself, because I know I’m connected to everyone, everything, and God\/Creator\/Great Central Sun.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMerry Christmas!<\/span><\/span><\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBarbara Becker<\/span><\/span><\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \n<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you are have difficulty remaining focused or need to clear your chakras and energy fields to attain optimum health, a <\/em>channeled healing<\/em><\/a> can be given in person or over the phone. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAn <\/em>Angel Tarot Card reading<\/em><\/a> can help you focus what direction your life purpose is taking you. The messages are uplifting and empowering. This can be done over the phone and it's privately recorded on an mp3 download, so you can review it again. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFor more stories of my healing gift, please consider reading my book, <\/em>Enclosure: A Spiritual Autobiography<\/em><\/a>. If you are guided, please <\/em>contact me<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I grew up Catholic with the tradition of the birth of Jesus celebrated on December 25 of each year. I remember several Christmas holidays spent at my grandparent’s home in upstate New York. For the Christmas dinner, I sat at the children’s table next to the grownup’s dining table, with my two brothers. Our table […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[153,47,317,213],"tags":[11,319,318],"yoast_head":"\n