The Privilege of Christmas

December really snuck up on us this year, didn’t it? I feel like I say that every year. Every year it feels it’s spinning a little faster than normal. Christmas is here, gone, and back again. I am startled by its abruptness every time. And I get sucked into the hurriedness, the busyness, the rushing around.
In the rush to buy the gifts and deck the halls and log the yule and hark the heralds, I always seem to forget what all the rushing around is really for. And I just need to slow down and smile. Because seriously, what an amazing thing we have in Christmas. An entire season dedicated to celebrating the sacrificial love and humility of God made human, to savoring memory and experience, to holding the people that love us closer than usual…wow. And I bulldoze right over it. I get cynical and irritated and self-righteous and I totally miss the big privilege of celebrating Christmas.



So this Christmas, I'm savoring the privilege of standing in long lines (more time to make new friends!), of singing Christmas carols (even the annoyingly bad covers of "Happy Xmas, War is Over"), of giving gifts, of hugging my friends a little tighter than necessary, of playing in the snow (and driving safely in it, too), and of knowing first-hand the great mercy of God.

What makes you excited for Christmas?

love, elizabeth