Peace On Earth.
November 5, 2009
I work in a salon and day spa now. As we enter the holiday season, we are working like elves wrapping gift cards and stocking for the great influx of Memphis housewives that will be primped and polished into the Stepford standard. I stumbled across an odd juxtaposition though. In talking to the head of the massage department, I discovered that they are moderately slow during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, and it is in January and February that their books began to fill. Is it possible that as we light and trim our houses and trees, that we also highlight and trim ourselves in preparation for the house guests and the corporate parties and the many pictures taken? And that only in the haggard aftermath of holiday schmoozing do we pause to note the tension in our shoulders and that dull ache in the lower back?
This causes me to wonder why we create the traditions and expectations that we do. Why the house must look like this or the meal must present like that. Why at a time of year that we recognize political freedoms and personal freedoms and spiritual freedoms, we celebrate them with gift-wrapped pretense and an extra serving of stress.
Is it possible to embrace the impending holiday season with reflection, gratitude, rest. To show love for the people in our lives by giving them a space to exhale. To use the instant potatoes. To come to Christmas dinner in pajamas. To hang our hearts on connectedness and grace instead of in stockings and dollar store prizes. And to have a little bit of wrinkling for a year well-lived. A little bit of gray for some lessons well-learned. A little bit of peace for a family well-loved.
Is that possible?
I like! Even if your Christmas is spent in a dingy stable surrounded by smelly animals, the beauty of the occasion should be celebrated through demonstrations of appreciation, acceptance, and unconditional love. That would truly honor Christ. I would add, however, that I think since Jesus came to sacrifice Himself, that an act of giving is necessary — not in buying gifts, but in giving of ourselves, like singing carols at the local nursing home, serving food at the town’s soup kitchen, or inviting someone who has no family to join the warmth of your family circle and celebrations. Christmas blessings!