I have hated the Christmas Holidays for years. It has nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas. To the contrary it has everything to do with what Christmas has become. Even during my most faithless times of life I though we have corrupted Chrismas with our commercial white washing of the holiday. Or white outing to use a winter term. For my southern bretheren, whom I now put my life on the line with, it means a heavy snow fall or drift so to limit visibility. Kidding....
For me, Christmas became a time of rushed and stressed people trying to find the most popular or expensive gift. They pass by the Salvation Army volunteers without a thought. Even this year some pice o' shit dirt bag actually robbed one of the buckets in our great city.
For me and Beth this Christmas we decided not to celebrate, at frst. We did not have the "spirit." In the end we did find ourselves doing a little Chrismas shopping. Just a little. One thing stands out to me the most. Not because of the gift tself but because of what Beth said. It was a very common box of cheese meat and crackers. When I opened it Beth stated that she wanted it because it reminds her of Christmas. My cousin Eric and his wife "Rosey", er Jocelyn (I do like her nickname) used to get us one every year.
The little thing, this box of meat ad cheese, brought back the memory of Christmas to Beth. Isn't that what Christmas should really be all about. The heartwarming uplifting gifts. The tradition of gifts stems from the three magi, and their gifts to the baby Jesus. Those gifts were grand gifts for ther day, but the true gift was Jesus to us. Jesus came to teach us how to live. To lift us up and out of the follies of man.
Now PS3 is more important than anyhting else. People are miserable and stressed and traffic sucks. Just going out to eat with my family is a virtual obstacle couse of roadrage filled drivers and oblivious pedestrians. Yet in the middle of it all was Beth opening that box of gourmet cheeses just getting a little lift from the misery the has filled us since Kathlyn died. A little uplift kinda like a little baby some 2010 years ago. That is what Christmas should be. Nothing fancy just a little warmth to the heart for Christ sake.
he's so right.. eating the box of meat and gourmet cheeses reminded of me Christmas as just me and my husband.. before we had all this heartbreak. the simple things, like being off together, and if we dont feel like cooking, we just eat the whole gift box instead.
ReplyDeletei love you, for Christ's sake.