Simul justus et pecator - Simultaneously saint and sinner.
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Posted On: December 24th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
Considering we now have snow! YES! Living in Wisconsin can have some perks, my friends. A white Christmas being one of them.
Trying to give the perfect Christmas greeting is almost as awkward at trying to find the right things to say at a funeral. You don't want to repeat what 50 other people have already said, and yet, you still want to say something nice.
So here we go, merry Christmas. I've got nothing significantly special other than that...
We finally decorated our Christmas tree yesterday. Yes, yes, I know...More dedicated people than ourselves have had trees and lights and flickering Santas up ever since the day after Thanksgiving. Somehow, the magic was lost this year. How can we possibly bring back the times when we were little, bursting at our little seams over the fact we got to place a shiny object on a Douglas Fir? My mind was somewhere between the skipping Christmas CD and watching my brother yawn. I found an ornament I had made when I was 3 - It was a piece of paper with string taped to it.
"You call that art?" My brother chided.
I pointed to a piece of foam with random specks of glitter David had fashioned some years ago.
"You call that art?" I replied.
"Oh, it's all beautiful," my mom said, placing them on the tree.
My little sister, age 6, is appropriately bubbly with Christmas energy. She's all hiped for the socks she requested. We can afford socks. For some reason, Bekah wants more. Lots of socks. Oh yeah.
I recently flipped through some photo albums my mom had saved from my grandpa's house.
All crisp in our best clothes...
I remember Christmas. Christmas being my favorite time of the year, besides birthdays. The Christmas program was every little Lutheran kid's time to shine in an acolyte's robe beaming, playing an angel.
In many ways, I wish I had that innocent excitement around the holidays. It's definately different this year, with all my grandparents gone. We won't sit around Grandma Dorothy's tiny revolving Christmas tree, or call Grandpa Bob to ask if he liked the new Air Force book we bought him.
I thought it was rather sad until I talked with a client at work, who had his old labrador in for tests. The poor yellow, droopy dog's kidneys were failing. As I administered sub-q fluids to the dog, I chatted with the owner, asking him if he was going to spend time with family over Christmas.
"No," he replied, tears welling up in his eyes, "Bud's all I got."
I've never known the pain of having something you hold high in your life vanish. Of course, I loved my grandparents, but I know someday I'll see them again in heaven. They're not completely dead to me. My salvation is secured in heaven. Why should anything else on earth stress me out, Christmas included? It's all going to pass away. I'm never going to be able to keep the gifts I recieve forever, except the ones Christ has showered so graciously upon me. What a humbling thought it is, knowing everything you touch on earth will never last.
So I wish you a merry Christmas. But most of all, I'm glad to know that for all the faithful in Christ, I'll see you someday forever.
Pax.
Comments:
Re: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Posted On: December 25th, 2006 at 6:13 am by luvable lutheran
Enjoy the white stuff! We're also all united (all the company of heaven and earth) each time we partake of the Lord's Supper. A Blessed Christmas to you and a restful and happy New Year
Re: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Posted On: December 26th, 2006 at 8:35 am by Roxann
Hi!
I just found your blog via the HT site... very cool!! I've had fun reading a whole bunch of your more recent past entries. You do an incredible job of articulating your faith- way to go!
I felt that I had to say hi because my life parallels yours quite a bit, only 7-ish years in the future- also a confessional Lutheran from north central Wisconsin, who will be graduating veterinary school in May. Good luck in your future endeavors!!
Good luck in your future endeavors!!