For some reason, or maybe reasons, we just couldn’t seem to get our act together for Christmas this year. We bought the tree two weeks later than we usually did, and then let it sit in the garage, still in the netting, for several days. No cookies had been baked, no presents bought or wrapped, no cards addressed…it was as if Christmas was going to come and go without any of the things that usually make it a holiday.
And then this weekend, it suddenly appeared! The tree was put up, the plans for a family get-together were made, the recipes printed and the signs began appearing all over the place–it was finally Christmas at our house. Perhaps it’s been the constant cycle of economic downturns, and upturns, and then down again, or seemingly endless wars that have devastated so many lives, both here and abroad, or the disgraceful posturing of our elected leaders on the healthcare reform debate while people die every day in this country from lack of that very care…whatever it might have been, either publicly or privately, the cares and worries of the entire year are being set aside for a few days.
We need Christmas this year–we as a family, we as a country, and whether it’s Christmas or Hanukkah or some other mid-winter celebration, we need that break from the serious side of life. On this, the winter solstice, the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, I plan to spend the rest of the week preparing for a Christmas that we can remember as a haven of peace and joy in the midst of all the turmoil, whether it be here at home or in a land far away. My wish is that for a moment, even if only for a moment, we allow ourselves to feel the peace and joy that is Christmas.
