I cut enough broccoli heads in the garden last Saturday for dinner.  December 12^th !!!   It was so good!  An odd blessing in December!  The remnants of our ash trees are slowly becoming firewood.  The weather in the past two weeks has allowed outdoor work, and Kerm is splitting the big chunks that remain into useful pieces for our wood stove.  As the old adage says, wood warms twice --- once while getting it ready to burn and then again when it sends its heat throughout the living room.  My doctor suggested ---- many years ago when I was dealing with chronic bronchitis----- that we get rid of that air-drying monster.  However, there is nothing quite as comforting on a chilly morning as the flickering flames and warmth of burning wood.  So we just put a pot of water on the stove to help the air quality and enjoy.  Flu shots seem to keep the bronchitis at bay, and it is no longer chronic.

In spite of the annually-touted “Christmas spirit”, many people are experiencing considerable angst and even depression this month.  Ordinarily, one would expect wide-spread happiness enhanced by shiny ornaments, caroling and shopping.  Even in a normal year, this is probably an inaccurate and thoughtless expectation for many people.  This year, the encroaching virus and shutting down our usual activities plus the spreading discord and dissension are dimming everyone’s light.  And for some, the lack of a job, no money for food, rent or gifts and the specter of gloom all around nearly puts the light out.  King Solomon of Biblical fame wrote some pertinent, if annoying, words for times like these in Ecclesiastes:  “To everything there is a season*” …and basically “there is nothing new under the sun”.     So we try not to despair; good times and bad times will just keep on circling around through the eons.   It is called “life” and in dealing with life’s challenges, we grow ----- or not.  The process isn’t always just what we’d choose!                             

Another reason for our being disgruntled in this 2020 season may be the wide-spread need to break traditions.  Traditions can be wonderful.  I love getting out the vintage ornaments every year, and hanging them on the tree.  I enjoy writing our notorious and far-too-long Christmas letter that usually arrives sometime after Christmas.  I would feel bereft without the Christmas Eve candle-light service and then a Swedish Tea Ring for breakfast on Christmas morning.   Recently, in our Women’s study group, we talked about traditions and how often they get so institutionalized that people are aghast when anything changes ---- especially in churches --- even to the color of the carpet or placing of furniture.

One of the more memorable scenes in “Fiddler On The Roof” is where Tevye sings, “Tradition”.  Even though unhappy about it, he is able to bend his cultural mores a bit for two of his daughters, but the third daughter asks too much when she rips tradition to shreds by marrying out of the faith.  Traditions are what make us feel safe in a world that sometimes feels like “Where the Wild Things Are”.   But sometimes traditions become a barrier to growth and so we must learn, as Tevye did, to bend a bit.  Each of us must determine when bending is a good and useful thing, or when bending would hurt too much.  (The same with our backs I would point out to some members of my family!!  ☺ )

I think we all might find it necessary to forego a few of our traditions this year; no large family gatherings, no gala friend parties, no singing of the Hallelujah Chorus for our Christmas Eve service, and actually, a virtual Christmas Eve service, and maybe not even the  usual gift exchanges with family.  In place of these good times, maybe we can give closer attention to why we are celebrating and how these wonderful-sounding Christmas sentiments impact how we live our daily lives year-round.   Social inactivity may also give us time to really notice the world close around us ---- the birds (they do sing – even in December), the patterns in the snow, people’s faces (even covered by masks) and there will be time to realize and express gratitude for each small, wonderful blessing in each day.

Dealing with challenges may produce two quite different effects.  Some people grow stronger and blossom with what they learn from difficult times while others become self-centered and violently protest the changes to their lives, taking out their displeasure on the world around them.   We need to not only remember why Christmas exists, but to also be aware that if we have open hearts, the core of Christmas can be a balm of healing all year ‘round.  Agnes M. Pharo** expresses it this way: “What is Christmas?  It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future.”

I do remember Christmases past with tenderness.  My eldest brother’s family held their Christmas Eve service at home and I was often with them for that time of candle-light, music and reading.   Our local church service was a late one --- 11:00 PM --- and since my brother had to rise early for milking the omnipresent cows, having a service at home was sensible.  Later, when I was deemed old enough to attend the late service at church, I found that equally as special.  Going out into the starry darkness in what seemed the middle of the night, was exciting, as was the candle-lit service. I’m sure that the collective effect of those services and observing the adults in my life, helped me to develop at least some inner strength for tough times.  My parents survived WWI, the Flu pandemic of 1918, typhoid fever, not a lot of money with which to begin married life and sending two sons off to WWII.  Christmas still came every single year regardless of a troubled world.  So it has with us in spite of blizzards, tonsillitis, fevers and even death.  And because I believe what I believe, I’m not really afraid of the future even while admitting to some angst regarding the process of how those future challenges roll out.  I truly believe with Julian of Norwich that “All will be well and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well!”***---maybe not tomorrow, but------eventually.   The more I --- and we ---- learn to be less self-centered and more loving and caring toward others, the sooner all manner of things will be well.

It is now only eight days until December 25th.  The fourth Advent candle (Love) will be lighted this coming Sunday and the tall white candle (Christ candle) on Christmas Eve.   If, at this point, cookies in sufficient numbers aren’t baked, or the decorations totally perfect or our families can’t join us, we need to appreciate what is done and relax into the wonder and simple delight of Christmas.

I would wish a deep comfort to be with you not only for this Christmas season, but also a hope that it becomes the fountain out of which flows a life of clarity and confidence in 2021.  May you be blessed with some of your traditions but also find openness in your heart for new experiences.  If you are feeling despair or a sense of futility about the world, now is the time to remember the famous Christmas hymn by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow****:

   “…..And in despair I bowed my head, ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said.

        For hate is strong and mocks the song of ‘peace on earth; good will to men’.

        Then pealed the bells more loud and deep, ‘God is not dead nor doth He sleep;

        The wrong shall fail; the right prevail for peace on earth, good will to men.’”

A blessed Christmas to you.  And rejoice--- soon we will have a bit more light each day!  YES!!

Carol may be reached at: carol42wilde@htva.net

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*Ecclesiastes --- Old Testament of the Bible, Chapter 3

**Agnes M. Phara ---American writer and painter; there seem to be a few caustic remarks about her writing and very little information.  She is best-known for this quote.   1937-2019.

***Julian of Norwich ---English anchorite of the Middle Ages.

****Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ---American poet and educator.  Well-known for his poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride”.  This quotation comes from “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”, 3d stanza.  1817- 1882