A Volley from the Canon, Number 73

A Volley from the Canon, number 73

The CHRIST-mass

Someone finally asked me this week, “So, are you ready for Christmas?” I was taken aback, though this is such a common greeting this time of year. It just hadn’t occurred to me yet. I shrugged.

“Sure, bring it on.”

“You mean you’ve done all your shopping, and the house is all decorated, and all the baking is done and groceries bought, and cards out, and all that stuff?” she persisted, amazed.

“It’s easy if you don’t do anything.”

My questioner was aghast. But it’s true. I’m no Grinch. I’ve just decided to give up on the futility of over-functioning during December and, I hope, other times as well.

Our former Christmas tree was huge, hard to put together, and frustrating (though quite beautiful, even if fake). So I tossed it. Now, the replacement is still big, but pre-lighted and fold-out, no longer a threat to marriage and family unity. And, according to me, it has become an “Advent Bush.” It can be erected anytime in December without impinging upon the actual Christmas season. I’ll take it down, like everyone else, right after Christmas, and we’ll move on! No “Christmas Vacation” movie excesses here! We plan to ENJOY the holy day.

I can’t eat Christmas cookies, cakes, or candies, and do Linda and the boys need them? (That’s a ‘No.’) So I don’t bake any. We’ll have a nice dinner on Christmas Eve, but it may be in a restaurant. And we’ll have a nice Christmas dinner, but not one it takes days to prepare—we’ll do it that very day, together. I do appreciate the greeting cards we get, but we don’t send any. The money is better spent, I think, on charitable giving, and the sentiment better expressed by greeting people in person, by phone, or even by e-mail.

Everyone I know pretty much has one of everything, so what use is a gift they don’t want? Appropriate gift cards or cash are always welcome, and they always fit. And expressing our love for friends and family is not about “stuff,” anyway, is it?

I’ve spent too many Christmas mornings feeling like I’d been beaten with rubber hoses. I want to be rested and ready, on December 24-25, to welcome the Christ, whether he shows up as “little baby Jesus” in the manger or as full-grown “Judge of the Quick and the Dead.”

Am I ready for Christmas? Sure—bring it on!

An enjoyable and peaceful Christ-mass to all!