in the usa, thanksgiving day has just passed. christmas is around the corner. for christians, the season of advent has begun. in our home, images of that bearded gift-giver we call santa claus abound, along with several manger scenes with the baby jesus at their center. there are lighted ceramic trees and a four-foot-tall tabletop christmas tree, as yet undecorated. there are snowmen and various figures that are celebrating christmas, such as our set of carolers from the peanuts cartoon series. there are angels and gnomes. it is a feast of color and light.
each morning i walk through the house while it is still and dark outside, turning on the celebratory lights that are not automatically turned on by timers. when night falls, lighted trees, garlands, wreaths, and a santa claus come on outside in the front and rear of our house, as their timers do their jobs. it is the season i love most each year, that time before all the family gathers, and the traditional christmas dinner is eaten, and gifts are exchanged. it is a time of anticipation of the festivities that are to come, of rehearsing the familiar tunes and words associated with christmas, of watching movies that capture the magic of the season.
i remember the magic of anticipation from my childhood: looking forward to seeing what santa brought me and my siblings on christmas morning, going with my dad out to the forest to find a tree, thinking about the fun i'll have with my cousins when we go to my grandparents' house for dinner on christmas afternoon. the smells of that delicious food and the taste of my mother's special cookies and candies that only appeared during the season leading up to christmas day are still fresh in my memory. we have continued the tradition of my mother's tea cake recipe in our household. those short bread cookies take most of a day to make, as the thick dough is mixed, then rolled out and cut into festive shapes, and carefully baked so that they are just the right combination of tenderness and crispness, not too doughy but not too hard. at the end of the day, about seven dozen of these wonderful treats are stored in cookie jars, even after our sampling of the first batch after it's cooled on wire racks.
i love everything about christmas and the days that precede it. the hard work of dragging all the decorations out, unpacking them, and arranging them in our home is worth all the effort. our home never looks more beautiful than it does at christmas time. we've even talked about finding a larger tree to decorate this year, and i'm excited about that prospect. now most of the gifts are wrapped, except a few that are on order but that haven't arrived, and we can begin to relax and enjoy the prospect of spending happy times with our children and their partners.
may we carry the spirit of christmas with us throughout the year. may we recall the magic of christmas that surrounded and filled us as children. may christmas be a time of good will, peace, tolerance, patience, and joy, even for those who don't subscribe to the "jesus is the reason for the season" philosophy. may we remember that christmas is the time for giving and gratefully receiving, not for condemning those who don't agree with us. shalom.
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