I was looking back over my previous posts to see what I had written about Christmas last year. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It made sense as Lucy was born at the very end of November and life was a little crazy, but I still neglected to write about my favorite time of the year. This will soon be rectified.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and usually it is not even close. I love Christmas specials. I love Christmas baking. I listen to Christmas songs throughout the year. Maybe my enjoyment of the holiday comes from my mom's kitchen and her history of making amazing things to eat during this time of year. Maybe it comes from school age and having a break from school. Maybe it comes from memories of opening presents with my brothers.
(Side note: One year Christmas festivities just stopped for a half hour as all three of us simultaneously opened gifts that contained Nerf guns. It was a maelstrom of darts and wrapping paper and body parts and tinsel. I would like to say that I was a young boy...but I was probably 20.)
Perhaps I cherish this season because it is the one time of the year when everyone enjoys winter instead of complaining about it. Being from Alaska and choosing to call this state and this climate my home means that I not only tolerate winter, I enjoy the snow and the dark sky and the chilly temperatures. On Christmas, everyone else sees winter the way that I see it year round.
Maybe I simply love Christmas because it falls about a month after my birthday. Close enough to check off the rest of my wish list but far enough away that most relatives could not get away with sending me a joint Christmas/birthday present.
While all these are definitely elements of why I enjoy this season, the most significant piece lies deeper. It is not something that I often think about or reflect on. Reflection requires slowing down and listening and we live in a world that urges us to move faster and take on more and more. When I do slow down, I am overcome by a simple word that I ascribe to this season and this season alone. It is not "Joy" or "Peace" or "Noel" or anything else that I have seen on a Christmas card. It is "Wonder."
My favorite definition of Wonder is "amazed admiration." It is children staring at wrapped presents under the tree, imagining the possibilities of what could be in those packages. It is my 1 year old daughter gazing, mouth open, at Christmas lights. It is a parent looking at their sons and daughters, stunned that they were part of creating something so amazing. Wonder is what happens when we gaze on something that is beautiful and complete yet is full of unrealized potential...it will only get better and our imaginations are released into dreaming of what they could become. Wonder is delight at what we have and excitement at what will come later. When I think of Wonder, I think of a parent beholding their newborn and my mind turns toward the first Christmas.
I imagine the baby Jesus, Lord of the Universe and helpless infant. I imagine the wonder in Mary and Joseph's eyes being matched only by the wonder of the heavens. I imagine the constant chorus of praises being temporarily paused in heaven as the angels looked on at wonder at the newly revealed Divine Plan. Immortal and Eternal wrapped in quivering and frail flesh. A perfect baby, a perfect gift with limitless potential yet to be revealed. I imagine the Father with a small smile whispering "Watch and see what I will do." The silence of Wonder...the implications of this gift...minds and hearts racing as the Divine entered creation.
Sometimes when the house is quiet...and I am quiet...I catch a glimpse of God pouring out unexpected gifts onto unsuspecting mortality. I feel the amazed admiration as I ponder what could come next. I hear a faint whisper to "Watch and see what I will do." And I sit in Wonder at the amazing God we serve.
Merry Christmas and may this season be filled with Wonder for us all.
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