The stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Well, not really. But the meat is out of the freezer and in the fridge. The groceries have been purchased. The presents are wrapped. There is menu plan involving all sorts of rich dishes. Everyone has been invited to come, and hopefully will.
Yo and Matt will arrive late on Christmas Eve. We will go to the Candlelight Service at church, as always. It's funny, as a retired clergy person, I have never missed preaching at Christmas. I'm an Easter preacher, so that may be why. And ironically enough, I was working in churches in both 2009 and 2010 so that I did get to participate during the Lent and Easter seasons. The day may come when I am just a parishioner in the pew, but that day has not yet happened for Easter.
I always got so nervous on Christmas Eve. I think that is because I felt so much pressure to deliver a meaningful, memorable, and unmistakably spiritual service and sermon (over against the hugely secular buildup). And also, perhaps because there were always so many people there whom I did not know.
Now Christmas is so much easier, and it is mostly about family. For all the years of ministry, I was so exhausted on Christmas Day that I could barely get through it.
I do have a wonderful memory of Christmas 1981, the first one Gerry and I spent together. There was a magical moment there in the midst of the carol singing and the candle lighting. It was a moment of suspended love so palatable that it could almost knock you over.
And that's kind of what Christmas was and is all about anyway---a love so tender and divine that it was only suitable for a newborn.
Merry Christmas and Peace to all God's children.
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