Can We Get It Right This Time?

(To the tune of 12 Days of Christmas)

It’s just seven days till Christmas and there’s nothing ‘neath the tree. Floors still need waxing, carpets still need cleaning, when-will-it-end? Packages to wrap, groceries to buy, cards in the mail and who’s gonna put ornaments on the treeee?

(music stops)

I wanna start over. This year was supposed to be different. There was supposed to be time to enjoy the season and lounge on the sofa watching cheesy Christmas movies. I wanted to savor the days leading up to Christmas, look back and notate the positive things that happened this year...I want to start over. 

Next time I wanna get it right. Truly celebrate the reason for this time of year. I want to sit with each loved one and visit. Ask them about their year, their hopes for next year and what they’re gonna do. I wish there weren’t presents. Nowadays everyone gets what they want, when they want it, in the right color and size...at Christmas it seems that we spend more time and money trying to impress each other than getting to know one another.  

What would Jesus do? 

While I ponder that last gift I need to find, I think of Him smacking His forehead and shaking His head. “YOU know what you should be doing, but you continue to fall into the habit of everyone else.” I imagine Him saying.

Guilty. That’s what I feel. Guilty. 

Flashback to all those Christmases where my Grani tried so hard to make Christmas about Jesus. We sang Happy Birthday over a homemade cake baked especially for Him, then hurried to see what everyone had all wrapped up in Santa covered paper. My heart hurts from the memory of the disappointment on Grani’s face. Oh, she never said anything, but I know that she prayed we would see the light...I see it Grani. I’m sorry I didn’t stand up for it back then. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the traditions we have. I love having family together and enjoying great food and laughter...but as the years go by I notice more and more that the smiles are forced and the gatherings are more and more difficult to schedule. Gifts are harder to get and Christmas just seems to be too hectic. 

I’m tired. 

Tired of the fantasy. Tired of the chaos. Tired of the forced smiles and hurried pace of the time. 

How do I make a difference? How can I change the way it’s always been? 

Part of me just wishes the tree would stay in the garage. That the three or four Santa figures that light up the yard would not appear this year. Maybe the stockings don’t get filled and my family could just come in their pajamas to eat breakfast together and visit all day long. The kids could play, everyone could be happy and relaxed and we could reflect on the good things that happened this year: a wedding, a baby, a job, debts paid...a proposal, health and time to be together. And together we could honor the reason that we have Christmas in the first place. That would fill my cup, and recharge the light that I want to shine on the world next year. 

(again with the secular Christmas song…)

On the last day of Christmas my savior gave to me, a life in e-ter-ni-ty. 

I’ll stick this one in my head for the rest of the day instead…“Silent night, holy night! Song of God love’s pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face. With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at thy birth...Jesus Lord at thy birth.”

Let’s get it right this time. It’s not too late. 

Luke 2: 10-11