I like Christmas, generally.
Some friends dread each Christmas, not in a mean-spirited Grinchy-Scroogey way, but more from the awful feeling of deep grief or loss. I can feel their sadness and always hope that their Christmases pass quickly.
Other friends are just too jolly for my bowl full of jelly. They find Christmas the hap-happiest season of all, and I don’t begrudge their happiness. I’m happy for them like I hope they’re happy for me after I get all giddy about something they don’t understand, like going for a long run.
Some friends celebrate other holidays, or no holiday at all, and I honor and respect all of their traditions and choices. It’s important to me that they know that I do.
Me, I celebrate Christmas, and I like it, generally.
It’s a season of giving, and I like that, but it’s also a season of getting, while what many end up getting is left out. Sort of a good-news, bad-news type of deal I guess.
And Jesus’s PR team is predictably active this time of year, which is maybe cool seeing that I could not be more in on Jesus, but truth be told, given some of the messaging, I sometimes wonder if Jesus missed the strategy sessions.
And I like that a lot of folks get a nice break for the holidays around Christmas time, but I recognize that many others are expected to work more than ever.
So I guess I am a little conflicted around this time of year. But all in all, I like it, generally speaking.
I like all the sparkling lights shining in the darkness, and the hot cocoa to bring warmth in a season of cold.
I like hearing someone with a musical gift perform O Holy Night and how i involuntarily close my eyes and feel my heart flutter.
I like the unexpected memories of what it’s like to be a child, and how that takes me back to a time when my parents were alive and well.
I like that my grown up, adult, independent daughters still come home for Christmas, get up on Christmas morning in their pajamas and gather with their parents as our little family of four, somehow still happening after all these years.
Yes, those are the gifts that I really, really like about Christmas, the gifts that outweigh all the other stuff.
So whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, if any, please know that I wish you light, warmth, peace, hope, joy, and love—all the sentiments found on all the holiday cards. As for me, I will celebrate Christmas, and if you ever wonder, you can rest assured that it’s something that I like, generally.
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