Christmas, Christmas

Christmas, Christmas, what makes you so special? Tis the season to be...to be...jolly? No! More than that. To be caring, to be thoughtful, to be kind, warm, to be...ah yes, to be prepared.

Prepared? Prepared. Prepared...yes! My gifts ready, my calendar filled, my house decorated. That kind of prepared? No! Prepared like, you know, my heart open enough to behold the gift, whenever and wherever. But how do I prepare...and what am I preparing for?

Christmas, Christmas, what are you saying to me, what are you asking? It is so difficult to know. When I was small it asked only that I `be good for goodness sake'. But I am no longer small. I am `grown-up' now and find myself responsible for so many things that Christmas frightens me into feelings of pressure and rebellion. I know the season asks that I be more kind and loving...but can I be?
If I am, will you recognize it?
If I can't, will you forgive it?
If I succeed, will you remember it?

Christmas, Christmas, am I making it too complex, taking it too seriously, trying too hard? Sitting in church the preceding weeks will I come closer to understanding why I am there...or will I grow more impatient because of all the things still remaining to do?

And the gift, the real gift, will I find it? Where should I look? In a store, an office, a classroom, church, home? When might it be? During a church ritual, a time-worn tradition, a treasured moment, a creative new event? How will it happen? Will I pull it out of a box beautifully wrapped, pass it in steaming bowls around the family table, sip it from a cup—styrofoam or golden, reflect on it in solitude? Wherever, whenever, however...please enable me to recognize the gift — Word Made Flesh — each time I give myself, open myself to another.

CHRISTMAS!