Christmas Moments

Christmas means different things to different people. Moments during the holiday season are more important than others. With each of the different patterns and customs of the Christmas season, each person is likely to have a personal favorite moment. This moment, despite the stress a holiday invokes, brings a new feeling into our hearts and lets us be open to the spirt surrounding the wonderful holiday of Christmas. No holiday is without stress. Even earlier this week, stress appeared to hit a new high, filling the air through disgruntled shoppers and people rushing around town as the days prior to Christmas passed. This stress, however, is always dwarfed by the power of the single moment that can define the Christmas season, holiday, and wonder.

I, too, have this single moment. The late service at my church is a fabulous celebration of Christmas. Ending with a joyous singing of “O Come All Ye Faithful” with its unbelievable descant in the final sixth verse of the hymn. My wonderful church comes alive with the spirit and I stand in my pew wishing the song would never end. For that is what Christmas is about. Not the act of standing in a church singing a single hymn, but rejoicing in the single moment that defines Christmas for you alone. In that moment it feels as if anything is possible. You are overcome by every emotion known to man: love from the family surrounding you; joy from another memory made; pain from the loss of those dear; and hope that one day everything will shine as brightly as this moment. This surge of emotion can feel so overwhelming that the breath from your body seems to be gone. Love, joy, pain, hope, faith, wonder, and so much more will fill the air for each of us; because of a single reason- It’s Christmas.

I remember one of the final scenes in A Christmas Story, after Santa came, the dogs ate the turkey, and the family discovered Chinese Turkey, the parents sit in the glow of their Christmas tree sipping wine and watching the snow fall outside. This is their moment. A moment full of peace, love and hope. A moment standing still in the mists of the excitement of Christmas. A moment “...where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door, the dark night wakes, the glory breaks and Christmas comes once more.”*

So, Merry Christmas! I sincerely hope you had a wonderful, joy and love filled holiday. May your day’s be bright and your heart glad, and may the Christmas spirit find you in the greatest way it can. And know that I wish you the best wishes for the coming New Year.

* 4th verse, 2nd stanza of “O Little Town of Bethlehem”