I'm keeping a count of how many times I'm asked, "Well, are you ready for Christmas?"
Evidently every checker in the United States is trained to ask this question. I still smile whenever I remember the time I answered, "No, I'm not. I really don't know how it can be time for Christmas already!
My answer attracted the attention of a little woman in the aisle next to me. She looked to be about eight-five or so years of spunk. This rosy-cheeked lady fixed her sparkling blue eyes on me and took on the air of an old-timey school-marm. She left me no wiggle room at all. "But my dear!" she said, "All year long you've known it was coming!"
Who could argue with that logic? Guess I'm a slow learner, for here I am, once again playing catch-up. Let's just say life intervened with my well-laid plans.
Getting ready for Christmas could leave a person feeling depleted. Too much to do, too many places to go, trees to trim, cards to write, packages to mail. So it could seem natural to feel depleted ... if not for the fullness of Christmas.
I feel that fullness every time we open a Christmas card and touch hearts with ones we love! Reading their notes and letters, we laugh, and at times we cry with them. Memories spring up out of nowhere, ready to be relived and flood the heart with joy all over again. Every year I scramble to write notes on the (copied) letters we send, and each one we receive feels like a gift from the heart.
And have you noticed? People smile more in December. Perhaps that's because we focus on what we can give and what we can do for other people, rather than on what others could--or should, we think--do for us. We smile as we gather toys for toy drives and food for community food pantries and bake cookies for (it seems) the whole world.
That fits, because Christmas is the season for giving.Think about the name: "Christ-mas."
This is the time to remember again the wonder of it all, the birth of the Christ child, Jesus. GOD come to earth in human form. The Gift beyond description.It seems inconsequential to dither over whether December 25th actually marks the date of his birth, because it falls at just the right time. In this season of dark mornings that hang on too long and cold, dark evenings that come too soon, we especially need the Light!
So if you, too, still have cards to write and packages to wrap and mail, let's breathe deep right now and rejoice. It's Christ-mas! True, bad news dominates the news and we still don't have peace on earth. Yet we can experience peace in our hearts, even in the midst of our rushing and scurrying.
That peace will carry us through Christmas Day, through all our days ... and beyond.
Happy rushing around! Here's wishing you peace, deep-down and lasting, and joy that makes your heart sing!
Lenore
What's your favorite part of Christmas? Your comments welcomed!
