Holi Days
Well, here we are, that "time of the year". Truth be told, there was a collective sigh of relief around the world as the gifts were finally stowed beneath the tree,wrapped and glittering with secret promises, and Christmas dinner arrived at the table without a hint of prior kitchen catastrophes. All is well, again, and we have survived another holiday season.
I admit to a personal love-hate relationship with the whole concept of Christmas and especially, the Tree. Dragging it in, setting it up, stringing up the lights. Face it, a lot of work for a tree! Yet... It smells divine, and decorated at last, in the dark, a beacon shining a sparkling promise of magic. Ahhhh, Christmas!
But the Day After. Like a dimly remembered college hang-over. Where has it all gone? The tree remains, like a Cinderella who has lost her gown, shredded wrapping and baubles askew. The perfect turkey has turned into Tupperware snacks and the party dresses meta morphed into old pajamas. Where is "christmas"? We pay the bills in January, forgetting the smiles December brought...
Maybe, it is in the build-up of weeks, tucked discreetly behind the Sales banners and hype, that feeling of Hope, and of Belonging. For those brief halycon days, strangers smile, distant friends call, families collide and charities overflow. We remember each other, and others. A little more kindness graces the days, we notice all those things we spend a the rest of the year avoiding. That child, cold without a jacket, the homeless mother, the jobless father. We stop and say "there by the grace of God, go I" and we put out a hand. Seal the promise, the Christmas promise, that one should never give up hope. That we all belong to each other....
I love Christmas. The promise of Christmas. Not for God, or Jesus, or a "rose by any other name". Christmas is the word for Hope and Love. A symbol, for those of us who like them.. And, perhaps, despite all the glaring "commercialism" the bills, the stress, the fears, perhaps Jesus would still be proud of us, for celebrating and keeping, that promise...
Happy Holidays to all of you- wherever you are. May the lights of Christmas shine across the world and connect us all again, in one tangled, yet unbreakable string of brightness and, hope.. My gift to you, are all my memories, and all my love and hope. Hope that will burn bright, even after the Christmas tree is turned off.
I admit to a personal love-hate relationship with the whole concept of Christmas and especially, the Tree. Dragging it in, setting it up, stringing up the lights. Face it, a lot of work for a tree! Yet... It smells divine, and decorated at last, in the dark, a beacon shining a sparkling promise of magic. Ahhhh, Christmas!
But the Day After. Like a dimly remembered college hang-over. Where has it all gone? The tree remains, like a Cinderella who has lost her gown, shredded wrapping and baubles askew. The perfect turkey has turned into Tupperware snacks and the party dresses meta morphed into old pajamas. Where is "christmas"? We pay the bills in January, forgetting the smiles December brought...
Maybe, it is in the build-up of weeks, tucked discreetly behind the Sales banners and hype, that feeling of Hope, and of Belonging. For those brief halycon days, strangers smile, distant friends call, families collide and charities overflow. We remember each other, and others. A little more kindness graces the days, we notice all those things we spend a the rest of the year avoiding. That child, cold without a jacket, the homeless mother, the jobless father. We stop and say "there by the grace of God, go I" and we put out a hand. Seal the promise, the Christmas promise, that one should never give up hope. That we all belong to each other....
I love Christmas. The promise of Christmas. Not for God, or Jesus, or a "rose by any other name". Christmas is the word for Hope and Love. A symbol, for those of us who like them.. And, perhaps, despite all the glaring "commercialism" the bills, the stress, the fears, perhaps Jesus would still be proud of us, for celebrating and keeping, that promise...
Happy Holidays to all of you- wherever you are. May the lights of Christmas shine across the world and connect us all again, in one tangled, yet unbreakable string of brightness and, hope.. My gift to you, are all my memories, and all my love and hope. Hope that will burn bright, even after the Christmas tree is turned off.
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