Christmas Is a Blanket of Magic

Christmas is beginning to wrap his arms around me. I know of very few cold souls who do not feel the magic of this season. Everyone swears that there is "something in the air". While I become immeshed in the harsh glow of this computer screen at this familiar coffee house, I have yet to feel the tug of Cindy Lou Who on my heart strings. I know that this will soon change.

My lack of a traditional family leads me to form my own traditions. A couple of my friends go to Catholic mass every Christmas Eve at midnight. We come back to Jay's house and we sit around and laugh at the year gone by as we kick back a few beers. I'm not Catholic, but there is something about this little ritual that pulls my thoughts toward the sacred and away from the commercials. It beckons me into the magic. Every year, when I'm driving to my parents house at four AM on Christmas morning, I look out into the stillness and my wrestling soul and heart grows quiet. Suddenly, there is peace on earth.

A few weeks ago, I watched "Charlie Brown Christmas" for the first time since I was a little kid. The movie was made in the 1960's, yet Charlie Brown is distraught at the commercialization of Christmas. I had to laugh, because I imagine the holiday's of those years to be quaint and traditional. There must have still been sleigh bells and families would deck the halls. I suspect that we are in a perennial state of disgruntlement over the situation.

Sometimes I just need to breathe. I recently read about a study of 100 elderly people that were asked if they could change anything about their lives. The two consistent answers were that they wish they had risked more and reflected more. I do not believe that there has ever been a time in history where people were not busy. I'm going to take a moment and reflect on the only life I'll ever get to enjoy, and I'm going to smile at the magic that is falling on the earth like a blanket as we come towards Christmas.