Merry, Bright, Silent, and Holy

You and I both know that the Christmas season can be crazy. It's really easy to have a calendar page full of cheer-filled lunches, brunches, dinners, parties, gatherings, and outings.  I enjoy this aspect of the season and gear up for the exhausting coordination that goes hand-in-hand with it.  I bake the coffee cake on Tuesday for Thursday, make the pizza dough on Saturday for Wednesday, freeze the sausage balls this weekend for next, meet the farmer for fresh greens Friday for Christmas Eve's salad...and the to-do list goes on and the parties keep coming. Thankfully, I get along well with my immediate and extended families, so the occasions are a joy, albeit a bit numerous.  Truly, I couldn't ask for better holidays.

Lately I've been grasping for the silent and holy aspects of the season. I realize that it's not politically correct but I'm not ashamed to put in print that I'm a Christian.  Christmas may be a season of giving, a time of childlike awe and wonder, an occasion for charity and selflessness, but as far as I'm concerned it's not because Santa deems it so.  Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth -- the greatest gift to mankind.  It was commemorated by the luxurious offerings of the Magi and the breathless anticipation and rapturous jubilee of angels, shepherds, and all creation. It was a foreshadowing of the fulfillment of true love, ultimate sacrifice, and redemption made available for all.

THIS is Christmas.  A reason to be both speechless and to exuberantly rejoice, to be silent and to reverence the reality of this momentous event.  As difficult as it may be to wrap my mind around and as tear-filled as my eyes become, I intentionally contemplate the stillness of that divine night, the hushed expectancy of heaven and nature, and the bursting wonderment of all who witnessed that miracle.  And a miracle it was. Not only the immaculate conception or the paternal dreams, the humble birth in a stable, the angels' celestial song, or the guiding light of a new star, but first and foremost because Emmanuel had come -- God was now with us in human form.  The Creator had provided a way, the Way, for men to be called, drawn, and saved into relationship with Him as He intended.  This night was the moment that the Living Promise finally come to earth.  Joy to the World.

Modern Christmas is holly jolly and I'm okay with that to a degree, but the true reason for this season need not be displaced nor diminished under the jingle of sleighbells and Frosty's button nose.  In the coming weeks before beckoning in the New Year, I wish that your days be Merry and Bright, and that your Christmas be overshadowed by the splendor of that Silent and Holy Night. 

See you in 2013!

All the World's A Stage

Do you ever picture what people used to do with their spare time before there was a television in every home?  Remember with me a time when young and old, rich and poor would crowd together in a theater to witness the newly penned sonnets of Shakespeare or Marlowe.  Envision centuries earlier when masses of Greek citizens would fill the seats of an outdoor amphitheater to listen to oral histories, comedies, tragedies, and mythological feats of heroes and Olympians. Just as significant, consider the countless smaller gatherings since time immemorial when tribes, communities, and families would assemble to sing, play, and dance to the tunes and stories of their forefathers. In colonial and post-colonial America immigrants and slaves brought with them their fiddles and fifes, drums and guitars, rhythms and rhymes to ensure that their homeland was never too far away. These artistic threads have been woven into a fabric that can still be appreciated today.  But is it?  And what's the big deal anyway?

Shhh...I don't think pictures are allowed at the Symphony!

December 1st: Christmas Countdown

I've never been much of a Black Friday enthusiast.  Something about the traffic, lines, pressure, and aisle rage just doesn't appeal to me.  Until this year I didn't even know Small-Business Saturday or Cyber Monday existed.  When did they arrive on the scene?!?  It makes we wonder if names will be given to all the days after Thanksgiving -- Get It Before It's Gone 5th, Cuttin' It Close 20th, Last Ditch Effort 23rd.  Or worse...Forget-Giving-Thanks-Just-Shop Fourth Thursday of November.  Ugh, I sure hope not.  Call me a traditionalist, but I happen to think Thanksgiving should be digested before Christmas makes it on the scene.  I have a sister who's adamant (in her gentle way) that no Christmas music, decorations, or movies make an appearance until after Thanksgiving is properly acknowledged and celebrated with feasting, family, and actual Thanks-Giving.  Novel concept.  She doesn't have to convince me, I'm already game.  If I ruled the world, the only exception I'd make would be for craft-type stores who supply us homemade gift-givers with fuel for the fire.  I get hyped thinking about gifts for people throughout the entire year.  Ultimately, my husband and I decide together who gets what, but we always settle on some homemade, some experiences, some serendipitous finds at random places, and a few that were actually asked for. This year we came up with a dozen or so homemade ideas. One might think that these would be completed early on to get a jump on things...but nah, it's December 1st and I've got five yet to start!  If you're anything like me, you're counting down the days til Christmas, managing the calendar like a game of Tetris, clanging the pots and pans with a bit of Yuletide prep, and whirring at the craft table (amid all the other normal responsibilities of life). Before we arrive at Cuttin' It Close 20th, I thought I'd share one of my homemade gifts for little girls this season as a help to anyone else out there who's searching for the perfect thing.  It's A Cutesy Fleece Poncho.  So adorable -- I wish I had little models to wear them in the photos, but alas...that'd ruin the surprise!  

What's left of my Living Room...