Cooking and wrapping, cooking and wrapping -- oh, the frenzy of cooking and wrapping. Hmmmm.....no, I'm not much on the cooking and wrapping but, there's plenty of it going on. I did help a little. I cut out the Christmas cookies and frosted them. Surely that counts!
I am amazed each year as we approach Christmas just how much must be done at the last minute in order to be ready. This year is a bit like when we were younger; we are getting ready to go elsewhere for Christmas -- to my daughter's.
It is interesting how we seem to have gone through phases through the years regarding Christmas travel. Early married years were a matter of alternating between the parents and the in-laws. As the children came along and grew, we tried to have Christmas at home rather than to travel. I think it was as much a function of not wanting to haul everything along with us as much as anything. Now the kids are away from home and one has a family and children and are entering the phase we were once in. The other is still in college but fiercely independent. Getting him to come home at all is sometimes a challenge.
We still try to find a time and a way to have Christmas with our parents. Family is important. Too many families are spread all over the country and it is difficult during the holidays. I wonder how some manage it -- especially when there are blended families involved.
The loss of family continuity is a part of the much larger issue of the secularization of our country. The same values which are embodied in the very reason we celebrate Christmas have been replaced by a commercialized version of greed that is rampant throughout the year but especially obvious during this season. Fractured families and greed are both symptomatic of the loss of focus on the very One the season celebrates -- Jesus. It is time for clarity in our thoughts and actions. Remember the reason for the season.......
Just my thoughts,
Chris
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