This afternoon I did something I haven't had a chance to do in a long time, I sat down and turned on the TV. It seems like that seldom happens anymore. And with all of these choices available to me what did I choose? I went to YouTube and turned on videos of the Christmas decorations at the Magic Kingdom.
A little while later my husband pulls himself away from the project he's working on, walks in the living room, sits down and asks what I'm watching. I tell him and offer to change it.
Slight diversion here. My honey and I started out our relationship (23 years ago) with polar opposite views of Christmas. I grew up in the family that made a big deal out of the holidays, serving others, being an anonymous Secret Santa to a new family every year, lots of family and friends, decorations, singing, goodies...it was a special time. Even in those years where we didn't have much we still found the joy, the beauty and the magic in Christmas. It never occurred to me that anyone wouldn't feel the same way. Then I got involved with Scrooge himself.
His childhood & family was nothing like mine and his view of Christmas was quite the opposite of mine. I swore someday I'd change his mind. I even went so far as to take him to Disneyland (for his very first visit) for Christmas 4 years into our relationship. The iceberg cracked a little, but I definitely still had my work cut out for me.
Over the years, little by little, he started to come around. Then we had our first son and I made it very clear that our children were going to grow up knowing the magic of Christmas whether he liked it or not. I didn't care if he embraced it, but he wasn't going to ruin it for them. (He never did ruin it.) It didn't take that long to change his mind once he saw it through those sweet little eyes. Once in awhile he still gives me grief over my love of the holidays and he seems to think we can't put decorations up until after Thanksgiving, but it's half-hearted and to be a stinker more than anything.
Fast forward to this afternoon. Instead of changing what I was watching, he sat down and watched it with me. We sat and talked about a lot of things and one thing we talked about was how people were embracing Christmas early this year: sales, lights, decorations, Secret Santas, Christmas Trees going up, movies, Christmas songs...it's not just a few people either - it's wide-spread.
Then he said something that absolutely turned on this lightbulb for me. (I'm never going to live it down when he reads this, huh?) He said this year, more than ever, we need what Christmas is. I asked him what he meant. He said HOPE - the core of Christmas is Christ and people look to Christ for hope.
That started the wheels turning in my head as I realized just how truly, deeply right that is. Think of your own Christmas. What is the hub at the center of your Christmas Wheel formed from? For some it's Jesus Christ, for others it's Santa, for some it's the Spirit of Christmas and for many (including us) it's a combination of all of those. The embodiment of all that is good and right about Christmas is based in the principle of Hope.
Regardless of how the elections turn out, if dinosaurs come marching through our subdivision, aliens invade, giant winged snakes take over New Mexico or what other surprises this year has in store for us, we all need to HOPE for better. We need to feel like this is temporary, this too shall pass. Christmas is the physical expression of that hope.
So my focus is going to be on creating Christmas in our home, our lives, our hearts and I hope that you will too. If you see me in my yard putting up Christmas lights and singing, stop and sing with me. Then go home, turn off the news and put your tree up, make crafts and cookies with your kids.
May you and yours find the HOPE that Christmas brings and may you embrace that and share it with those around you. No, 2020 is not a "normal" year by any stretch of the imagination, but that doesn't mean we can't look forward to the future with HOPE growing in our hearts.
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