By now, I should be a pro at
Christmas dinner. I should be able to get a hot turkey dinner onto the plate before the gravy congeals, but every year, it’s a challenge. No
matter how organized I am ahead of time, as soon as that bird comes out of the
oven, there is a crazed flurry of activity in the kitchen. Within minutes, my kitchen looks like a
bomb went off. And then, once we sit down at the beautifully laid table, almost
everyone eats far too quickly (perhaps they were expecting hot turkey), and the
feast that took days to prepare is over in 15 minutes.
The culinary challenge of
Christmas dinner is only one aspect of the season that can make a cheerful
holiday spirit as heavy as plum pudding. The weeks of shopping, baking,
decorating and socializing that lead up to Christmas Day can morph the jolliest
elf into Scrooge. It can be difficult to stay level when we expect that our preparations will produce a
holly, jolly Christmas. While I haven’t quite perfected
the art of a stress free holiday season, a few years ago I had a revelation
that helps me keep my preparations in perspective.
"To-do" lists not sugar plums danced in my head
In the wee hours of the
morning, on a night before Christmas, to-do-lists, instead of sugarplums, were
dancing in my head. As I tossed
and turned, wondering how I would accomplish all the tasks with which I had
burdened myself, it came to me: Christmas Day would come and go no matter what I
did, or didn’t, do.
This realization changed my
approach to Christmas preparations. Since that sleepless night, I buy less, decorate
more simply, bake fewer cookies, and I no longer worry about polishing the
brass doorknobs. These changes have freed up time for reflection and spiritual
preparation, both of which help me to be more present to my family and others.
I never forgot the ‘reason for
the season’, nor did I forget to ‘keep Christ in Christmas’ when I was caught
up in the hustle and bustle of busy sidewalks. I just got a little sidetracked in my efforts to make
Christmas extra special. Although I didn’t realize it then, I
realize now that my Christmas preparations expressed a longing for those intangible
things that contribute to my idea of a perfect Christmas. Those things - a
renewed spiritual life, a happy hearth, everyone healthy for the holidays, and
a sense of inner peace and joy - are not found in the material aspects of
Christmas. While I still feel edgy sometimes during the holiday season, I am
much more focused on the essentials of Christmas.
A celebration of God's generous love
Christmas is a
celebration of generosity and relationships, flowing from God’s gracious love
for us made manifest in the birth of Jesus. Just as Jesus reveals God’s
generous love for the world, we try to express our generosity towards others
through our Christmas preparations. And while special foods, gifts and
decorations add to the celebration, it’s important to keep those preparations
in perspective. If we are one plum
pudding away from a Yuletide meltdown, we have probably gone overboard.
I have definitely toned down my
preparations since that night when to-do lists disturbed my sleep. Now, if I
could only figure out a way to get a piping hot turkey dinner on the table, I
would be the jolliest of elves.
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| "Christmas Shopping" Image courtesy of Kittisak / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
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