Recalling my Family’s Christmas Traditions!

Take a minute or two and remember the Christmases when you were young. Do you remember how Christmas day took so long to get there, and the weeks before Christmas seemed to pass so very, very slowly?! Speaking of slowly, let’s not forget the glacial pace of Christmas Eve when every minute seemed more like an hour!

Having been raised Catholic, and attending our parish school, I was an altar boy for several years, often serving at midnight mass. Staying up was a chore! I have always been a morning person and this was a true test of will. Miraculously once the clock neared midnight, and we were all dressed in our Christmas finest, and on our way to mass, it was like I had consumed an entire pot of coffee, completely renewed and invigorated. Bottle that feeling and there’d be no need for energy drinks today.

Our family, no different than most, had our own special Christmas traditions. To this day, I look back fondly on how we decorated and set out the handcrafted-by-my-maternal grandfather’s creche (nativity scene) on top of my mom’s Singer sewing cabinet in the living room. It was big, likely 18” or so wide, and probably a foot tall. The manger roof was covered in snow…right out of a spray can…and the whole scene sat upon a field of snowy fabric covering the entirety of the surface underneath. There were, of course, the figures of Mary and Joseph…and the baby Jesus…prominently positioned on a straw base at center ‘stage.’ The sheep, cows, and assorted stable animals were also present. There was an angel hung at the peak of the stable protecting the event, and another standing aside the holy family. A camel or two accompanied the three Wise Men who stood prominently near the entrance, seemingly just arriving with their gifts. The soft glow of a single light illuminated the entire scene. A good memory of the true reason we were and do celebrate…the birth of Christ.

Another favorite décor item was the string of 5 large red ‘bell’ lights that blinked in a celebratory fashion to my young mind, but so annoyingly to others…on and off, in some varied pattern. Every window of our house also had a single tapered electric candle providing just the right light and atmosphere to get into the Christmas spirit.

My mom, being the smartest woman ever, was the brains behind one of our favorite traditions. Following midnight mass, we arrived home around 1:30 a.m. or so, and soon had a holiday beverage in hand, maybe eggnog or cocoa for us kids, and a more adult-oriented scotch and water for my mom and dad, while Christmas carols resounded from the larger console stereo cabinet not far from the tree.

Soon it was time to open presents. Yes, Santa miraculously came to our house while we were at midnight mass. Uncanny how he knew we would be away! Presents filled the space under the Christmas tree that my dad had often nailed to the floor beneath to keep it upright! Soon the room was a mass of wrapping paper and a pile of gifts for each of us. I know with adult hindsight that we were far from wealthy, but somehow, I always felt we were wealthy beyond compare when it came to this happy family celebration.

The gifts now opened, the sounds of the Christmas carols fading, and it was time for breakfast! Yes, can’t beat a 3 a.m. Christmas morning breakfast spread of eggs, crisp hot bacon, buttered toast, and maybe a muffin or two. Then it was time for bed; although sleep was in short supply when all you could think about was getting back downstairs to play with a new toy or two, and maybe if we were lucky enough to get a Christmas snowfall to venture outside in the snow.

Now, surely you will agree my mom was the smartest woman ever! What parent wanted to get the kids to bed after returning from midnight mass and have them up at 6 or 7 a.m. loudly calling them to get up and that it’s time to open gifts? I think she was ingenious to do it just as we did; we soon were playing with our toys while she slept soundly only having to worry about being awake in time to prepare our mid-day Christmas dinner.

Tis the Season

Yes, the hustle, the bustle…the crowds, the stores, the holidays are here!

Look around and you’ll see signs everywhere of numerous celebrations occurring right now. The most common holidays celebrated in the Western world are Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa. But a lesser-known day, Bodhi Day, are celebrated by Buddhists to honor the enlightenment of Buddha (Siddhartha Gautauma) in December.

With the exception of Kwanzaa, a cultural holiday, most of the December holidays are religious in nature. Menorahs and Christmas trees are plentiful.  While Christmas has been overly commercialized over the years, it was intended as a celebration of the birth of Jesus, the ‘chosen one.’

According to a Pew Research study I saw recently, over 2 billion people in over 160 countries worldwide celebrate Christmas.  In the U.S. a near perfect majority of families celebrate Christmas, with about a third viewing it as a ‘cultural’ holiday.

Make the Holidays Matter

It doesn’t matter if you are religious or not, as long as you take the time to celebrate with friends and/or family, and maybe reflect on the true meaning of the holiday we celebrate.

This year, take a moment and honor the bright spark of Oneness that resonates, consciously or not, within all of us. Take time to sit quietly, or take a walk outside in nature and reflect on the blessings in your life. Yes, you may be facing more challenges than not in their life right now. Simply remember, we are embodied in human form and incarnated to experience both the good and perceived bad that happen to and around us. That is part of our human experience. And believe it or not, it is often why we incarnate…to feel all those things, the highs, the lows, that we can’t experience in the unconditional loving state of our true spiritual beingness.

A Christmas Wish for YOU!

Regardless of your beliefs, the True Light of the Christmas holiday is resident in each of us every moment and with every breath we take, it is ‘a present’ to all of us representing our place as Children of God. The intensity of that Source Light never discriminates.

I wish you and your family a Christmas holiday filled with love, friendship, joy, peace, and some awareness of that healing Light that is our birthright. Not just any light, but the Light shining down upon us from the Source of Unconditional Love.  May that Light remind us that we are part of something much, much bigger, the entirety of All that Is.

The holiday season is a reminder to let go of the things that are of no consequence. Remember that the essence of this holiday is not the gifts, that you may or may not need, but the celebration of the true Light and our rightful membership in the Holy Family, of which we are all included. May you see the Light in all things, and in all people, you encounter this month and every day into the future. Feel the blessings that are truly yours as a Child of God, no different than another.

And, why not find a way to keep an old tradition or two alive in your life this year?  Or, start a new one. Let it be something that reminds you of the true meaning of Christmas, and the optimism that we are but a small piece of a united world and universe.

Remember, always spread joy and kindness wherever you are. Take the time to think that we are all connected on this journey despite our seeming differences. Offer an extra dose of kindness to both friends or strangers.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and may you find Peace in your life this very minute, and every minute of the New Year.