12/16/15
IT’S HERE AGAIN!
As of
Thursday the dreaded ‘week before Christmas’ begins! The Saturday before Christmas is the
worst. It’s a really good idea to have
all your errands run before Saturday because that is the worst traffic day of
the year. Not necessarily because of the
amount of traffic, but because of the way people drive.
Parking lots are especially dangerous for drivers and
pedestrians. No matter how well we plan
it seems that Christmas creeps up on us and we are panicked by the things left
undone and this makes us cross and self-centered drivers.
When the
crush builds you hear complaints about what Christmas has become as though
someone else is responsible. But the
truth is it isn’t some vague they but as the old comic said, “They is us.” When this awesome feast becomes a chore it is
time to take stock. How did I let this
happen? When did anxiety, worry, bad moods, and dread take the place of
joy?
I hit on
this idea. Everyday of the last week before Christmas I ask myself to imagine
where Mary and Joseph were on their journey.
Can you imagine being nine months pregnant and riding a donkey? For mothers this would be as bad a thing as
one can imagine. How was Joseph holding
up? The whole process is alien to men
anyway but this - this was incredible.
When I put myself there beside them the mundane tasks before me seem
pretty unimportant.
Doesn’t it
make you wonder about God? Wonder about
your idea of God?
God, the Almighty, the creator, the judge, decides to come
to earth in this human way, not just the birth but also the journey, the
privation, the loneliness, the confusion and fear. From its beginning the life of Christ was
deeply human and for that we should be eternally grateful. The joy of the feast is in the knowledge that
on that day God became one of us. Take
away the trimmings, the trumpets, the angels, the kings and what remains is
magnificent in its simplicity and shows us the loving heart of God. God made good on His promise and we have
Jesus with us all the time. Take a breath;
let the wonder fill your heart. The joy
will return.
With love and Christmas blessings to you all,
Carol Lemelin OPA
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