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Christmas Chapel Service

Happy Holidays to All!
The Holidays would not be complete at Shawnigan without the candlelight Festival of Five Lessons and Carols. This year, the congregation was delighted by performances from our outstanding Shawnigan Choir, and were treated to a special holiday address by Headmaster, David Robertson, about the true meaning of Christmas. We were also privileged to be joined by many parents, grandparents and guests. Thank you for sharing this very special night with us, and happy holidays!

The following is the Headmaster's Christmas Address: 

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

When the Chaplain approached me a few months ago about including a Headmaster's Address into the Christmas service, I must confess that I felt a little like the Grinch might have felt if the inhabitants of Whoville had invited him down to speak to them! I do appreciate that you probably have to have younger children, or at least a good memory or be a grandparent like me to be very familiar with the classic works of Dr. Seuss where that story’s from, The Grinch That Stole Christmas, to be exact. More of him in a minute, but, suffice to say, I felt that there was definitely a danger that I could take a lovely School occasion and possibly spoil it. He's persuasive, however, the Reverend Holland is, so here I am and I'll try not to spoil anything!

To avoid doing that, I only have to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and build on the lovely mood that has already been created tonight by all of those who have performed and by all of you who have again imbued everything with that marvelous sense of community that comes from what I would like to call ‘respectful consideration’ and from singing together as we do at Shawnigan. That is in fact a perfect segue back to Dr. Seuss - So what did the townspeople of Whoville do when they realized that the Grinch had stolen all their food and presents? Anyone know? They got together and sang, of course! I should really give you a tiny bit of the text to convey the real flavor, so I quote from the end of the story :

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

Got to love Dr. Seuss! And it's precisely that 'little bit more' that I want to focus on. Shawnigan has again asked you all this term to do "a little bit more" and the results have been superb. There have been moments of sheer magic in this chapel and in so many other venues near and far, from our groups, our teams, our individuals—in short, from our people. Those moments have come from a willingness to make everything "mean a little bit more" by giving it our best selves whether the "it" refers to a simple interaction or a major event.

That type of approach is, of course, the essence of this whole Christmas season and this time of year. Last Saturday, the True Blues of Strathcona Lodge School House gave us an uplifting message and in the course of their excellent presentation, they talked about their motto, "Cherchons." At the end, I urged you all to take the essence of that and, among the other things that you would be looking for, to let one of them be the real meaning of Christmas. The Grinch found out that it was about more than the commercialism and the presents, but how do we pinpoint just what?

Well, I want to contend that this whole season makes us think less about ourselves and more about the needs of others. As a result, it opens up a receptiveness to the more inspiring notions that move us as human beings—those of love and hope and peace and, above all, of compassion and kindness. Christmas is about bringing, literally, "joy to the world." It is about those finer human virtues bringing light, which is of course such a powerful symbol for knowledge and understanding. You've brought joy and light to each other and to us all this fall term here at Shawnigan and now, you need to take that light out into the world with you. Make a difference to someone's Christmas season with your whole way of being and, if you give nothing else, give them the gift of your time. Time spent in genuine friendship or fellowship is never time wasted. My challenge is for you to focus on what you can bring to Christmas not on what you can take away.

Here at Shawnigan, we try to view the world as full of possibilities, dominated by a sense of "we can"—as in we can do virtually anything if we put our minds to it. The result is a productive, happy place—perhaps a lake of depth, calmness and contentment. Now we need to be the ripples from that lake, taking our qualities out into the rest of society. Believe that you can and believe that you will. Be appreciative and fascinated at the same time.
 
As Albert Einstein said, "There are two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle."

Choose to believe in miracles and wonder at the smallest of things, just like the famous little, Book of Awesome. You'll feel better and so will everyone around you. Even if you don't expect someone to come down the chimney, let others enjoy it if they do. Don't rob Christmas of its sentimental charm—it's just timeless. Even I have been in touch with Santa! Although as Mr. Hall and I were commiserating with each other last week he said, "You know you’re getting old, when Santa starts looking younger than you!"

You often hear me talking about this chapel being about what it makes you feel. Tonight should be and has to be one of those times when all those finer notions in life that bring us warmth, comfort and encouragement, combine to envelop us in a sense of well-being, when those moments that lift up our spirits and engage  our hearts and minds, cause everything to seem to “mean a little bit more.” Thank you to each and everyone who has contributed to those feelings both tonight and through all the days and weeks that have gone before in the course of this term. Well done to you all and have a break literally full of wonder and a wonderful break!

If you were not able to attend, you may watch the service by clicking here.
 
Photos by Stephen Lane and Beth Hayhurst
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We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.