All Is Calm, All Is Bright

To listen to this meditation, scroll down the page for the video.

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Imagine you are walking down a path through the snow-covered mountains at night.

Snow is falling gently and you can see your breath form into small, wispy white clouds.

The full moon illuminates your way as you stroll through a pretty Alpine village, past wooden mountain chalets and tall pine trees filled with pine cones.

You hear jingle bells and singing and you find yourself entering a brightly lit Christmas market. As your eyes adjust to a color symphony of red, white, green, blue, silver, and gold, you can't help notice joy and merriment everywhere you look.

There are brilliant white lights hanging across two rows of vendor stalls and as you pass each festive display, you see fresh-cut wreaths with velvety red bows, large painted nutcrackers, gold foil angels, handknit scarves, and bright fleece jackets. There are also sweet-smelling gingerbread cottages with hard white icing and in the distance you hear a chorus of bell ringers playing "Away in the Manger."

You make your way to one stall which displays shiny, old-fashioned wooden music boxes and you lift the lid of one of the larger ones. A tinkly tune plays "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and you quickly close the lid. A tear rolls down your cheek.

A little cherub-faced girl has been watching you and she smiles. She walks up to you and tugs at your coat sleeve to hand you a small, foil-wrapped box. You accept the box and she mysteriously disappears.

You make your way through the small crowd of rosy-cheeked merrymakers until you have reached the other side of the market, where you spy a festive, white gazebo, covered in fluffy, white snow and green garlands with red bows. You step inside the gazebo, sit down on a bench and unwrap your gift.

It is a small glass snowglobe. As you remove the snowglobe from the bright red tissue paper, you notice something very peculiar. There are no figurines inside. There is no snow. There is no water.

You shake the snowglobe. Suddenly, glittery, white sparkles of snowflakes appear. You watch the flakes billow into one snow-like cloud until they sink to the bottom of the glass. Suddenly, you feel yourself growing smaller and smaller until you are standing inside the snowglobe.

A color wheel of red, blue, and green magically appears in the corner and it turns until it stops at the color red. Like a spotlight, a soft red light shines upon you and a scene magically appears all around you, showing you a holiday time when you were not happy, a time when you were seething with jealousy. This was not a good time for you as you felt cheated because someone else had what you wanted and you - or your family - could not afford it.

The color wheel turns until there is a soft blue light shining on you and the scene is now a time when the holiday season made you feel very sad. You see yourself sitting all alone in a darkened room with no Christmas tree, no ornaments, and no presents. You are crying and there is a box of tissues beside you. The television is on and It's A Wonderful Life is playing for the umpteenth time. George Bailey has returned to his real life and is running through the streets of Bedford Falls, so happy to be alive and full of hope and gratitude. But all you can see is one big watery blur.

Suddenly, you are outside of the snowglobe, back to the present, and sitting on the bench in the gazebo. The little cherub-faced girl is standing beside you. She tells you that (like George Bailey) your life can change for the better when you change your perception. She tells you that whenever you feel envious or sad, just shake the snowglobe of your mind and the pure white snow will cleanse away any negativity.

You shake the snowglobe and watch closely until the snow clears and you see that the color wheel has turned to green. You see yourself in a wonderful, pleasant scene where you are laughing and smiling and sharing. The color green makes you feel healthy, balanced, and renewed.

In the distance, you hear carolers singing "All is calm, all is bright" and you silently thank the little angel for her precious gift.

You are at Peace.