Health & Fitness
Need a Little Christmas Right This Very Minute
What exactly are we looking for this Christmas?
With Christmas coming in at full-speed, now I am humming carols all the time. But I find myself in tune with the ones they don’t play as much on the radio, like “We Need a Little Christmas” from the movie “Auntie Mame.” I half-giggle remembering the scene of Auntie Mame skipping down the stairs of her soon-to-be-emptied mansion from the Depression eating its way into homes. She had the right idea: haul out the holly, put up the tree before her spirit fell again.
I can relate. Sometimes with all the dashing and rushing of Christmas shopping, I find it hard to be light in my feet. Shopping for stuff seems almost a crime right now anyway, what with the grief rippling throughout the nation from Newton. We don’t need stuff. So what do we need? We need a little Christmas, not a lot of big, shiny packages with big price tags.
I find the heart of Christmas in the little things, cliche though it sounds. Yet it’s true. This time of year more than any other, I need to let the other driver go before me, look and smile at the cashier as she counts out my change. It’s in the smile I wear on my face, the dollar bills I stuff into the Salvation Army kettle. Tonight it was slowing down to share in the intimate Vespers time at church, then having a hot meal of ham, scalloped potatoes, mac’n cheese and brownie bars with old friends, while meeting new ones.
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The heart of Christmas is in small miracles, in sharing little moments of my life with my husband, family and friends. Sometimes it’s a walk in the park, finding a bright red bird while on a path in Mission Trails. It’s turning my face from my phone and Facebook up towards the night sky to watch a shy half-moon hanging in the cloud-wisps.
But I’m not going to refuse any shiny packages given me, and I’m having fun finding just the right thing for my husband and a few close friends. It’s just that while I’m doing all this, I’m pausing once in awhile to turn off the radio in my car to say a silent prayer. First, for thanks to the Christ Child who gave us life because He gave us his; second, for the wounded and weary in heart who need a little Christmas right this very minute.