All is Calm . . .

Just 4 more days, and the BIG day is here:  December 25--CHRISTMAS.  Christmas preparations at our house have been different this year.  We won't be celebrating Christmas at our home (going to our daughter's later in the week), so why go to all the work of putting up and taking down a tree, or getting out all of the decorations?  We didn't have complete agreement on that matter, so there are a few decorations scattered around, and a small tree (that will easily slide back in its box when we're done with it) perched on a table in the corner.  With little entertaining planned, we did very little baking.  And, with decreased gift-giving, I have been able to create more and buy less.  All in all, it's been a calm and peaceful time!

And I wonder:  With fewer and simpler preparations, will Christmas be any less enjoyable when it comes?  Only time will tell, but I do know that the preparation for Christmas has been far more enjoyable, and I am much less stressed.

The Christian church observes this time of preparation as a time of waiting and expecting:  Advent.  While the world around us bustles with busyness, we are encouraged to be still; to wait and watch and listen.  I think I get that just a little bit better this year.

I'm not very good at waiting.  Patience is not a strength I lay claim to.  But, I am learning.  Likely it will be a lifelong lesson.  This year I have learned that waiting does not mean being impassive.  Even while I am waiting, I am doing.  Evenings find me sewing or making fudge.  Daytime finds me contemplating, and thinking about others.  Because I am less invested in myself and my preparations, I find I am more aware of others.

And maybe, just maybe, that's one of the lessons of Christmas:  get out of yourself, and get into others.  After all, that's what God did for us at that first Christmas time.  God came to us--to be with us, as one of us--to show us how much we are loved.  I'm not saying I do a great job of this, but I've at least become a little more aware.

So friends, as I close, I wish you all a peaceful and calm Christmas, and at least a few moments in the midst of your celebrations to remember: remember that, above all else, Christmas is a gift of love--from God to you, and to me; to our Muslim brothers and our Baha'i sisters; to the homeless teen and the atheist neighbour.  God's love is for all.  THAT is cause to celebrate!
Merry, Merry Christmas!!