Christmas Day is in nineteen days. Cue panic.
My kids created a contest for the season, the Mariah Carey count. Every kid made a guess. The winner gets a karaoke microphone or earplugs –whichever they prefer. The current pace would indicate +100 by December 25th. It has rejuvenated everyone’s enthusiasm both for the song and listening to Christmas carols. It’s a kid whistle when the first three notes chime forth.
How do we keep the holiness of the season when there are so many demands on our time?
The same way we try to keep the holiness of the mass when everyone is squirming and hungry and distracted by this, that and the other thing. It’s a process and a response to grace. We have to want it, to will it, and to work at it. We have to recognize when we miss the point, the moment, and the mark and begin again.
Wrap the presents when they ask.
Shop when they ask.
Sing when they sing.
Make the lists.
Take joy in the tasks.
Recognize the goal is not to get it all done, but to be present even as you shop for presents.
Be present. Be present. Be present.
Oh come let us adore Him.
Be present. Be present. Be present.
Oh come let us adore Him.
Oh Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Twenty days to adore, twenty days to be present, twenty days to enjoy the preparations as a gift, rather than a task. Cue the peace.
It is a blessed Advent, and we eagerly await Christmas, taking joy in each day.
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