Christmas Presents

Well, Christmas Eve is a week away and I'm lovin' it. I just took a week off from work, (it was a use it or lose it situation), and was able to relax and ease into the holiday spirit.

My wife and I went to the theater twice, which is something we rarely do. We saw "The Nativity Story" and a then a few days later, Mel Gibson's latest offering, "Apocalypto". Both were good but for different reasons. The former was about God's love for the Earth, and the hope and the promise He has given us. The latter was a fairly good look into the depth of depravity that would rule the Earth and its people, if it weren't for the former. I am so glad that human sacrifice is not what is required to satisfy the appetites of an angry god or government. And, I'll never complain about taxes again.

On Wednesday, we invited five kids over for an afternoon of crafts. All siblings, and ranging in age from 3 to 13, they took on the assignment of constructing small Christmas trees from wrappings and ribbons. This is all part of a holiday family tradition to goes back generations. As a child I loved making ornaments and centerpieces and other festive nick-nacks. Mom was very creative and could make just about anything she could imagine. I'm really glad I inherited that from her. And then I married a girl who also was very crafty. So it turns out, that all three of our kids are likewise bent toward similar creative outlets. Our son however, is most satisfied if he's allowed to blow up his creations afterwards, but that's a whole different kind of somethin' else.

I also was able to spend a few days woodworking. I had forgotten how much pleasure I derive from butchering wood. I can't reveal just yet what I was making, because it would spoil the surprise. Let me just say that if you hate, loathe or dispise shopping for Christmas presents (as I do sometimes), try making them. It's like you become one of Santa's elves for a while, and are able to express your love and affection toward someone special in a uniquely tangible and lasting way.
All of my kids will be coming home this week. I expect to have a houseful for the first time in a long while. We'll be baking cookies, and watching movies, and wrapping presents. BTW, that's another Christmas tradition that we take very seriously. Presents are not merely wrapped, but adorned. You'd be amazed at how you can transform underwear or a pair of socks into something special and beautiful. Sometimes I think we take more care in wraping gifts than in choosing them. We've even turned it into a competition. Before opening, each gift is scrutinized for the quality and attention that went into its camoflage. There's usually general agreement as to which one is best. This year, I expect to win. I am so confident that I'm willing to reveal it ahead of time.

Is it a coincidence that Christmas comes at the end of our calander year? I believe that someday, after the trials and blessings of this life have passed away, we will all be presented to God for His pleasure and approval. And what we were before, will be hidden in Christ, just as the gift is concealed within the wrappings and ribbons. Maybe we all secretly long for the day when the great promise of God is fulfilled in our lives, and we emerge from these cocoons, transformed from what we were, to what we will be, for eternity.

The Nativity Story

Another thing I like about Christmas are the movies. A short list of my favorites includes: It's a Wonderful Life, Trapped in Paridise, Home Alone, and Die Hard. However, I will have to revise this list after what I saw this weekend.
I don't care what the critics say, "The Nativity Story" is the most beautiful piece of film I've ever seen. I cried all the way through it. It so far surpasses anything that has come before, that it begs the question - Why did it take so long? I can't remember the last time any serious Hollywood filmaker dealt with this subject. This thing is an instant Holiday Classic. Casting, costuming, screen play, music...all winners. See it....NOW! Take your friends and family. I can't wait till it comes out on video.
See the trailer

Oh Tannenbaum

Well, now that the dust and my stomach have settled from last week's Thanksgiving Day festivities, it's now time to start thinking about what really matters - Christmas. I love Christmas, and everything about it: the music, the lights, the commercialism - yes (gasp) even the commercialism. I'm tired of the generations of Xmas bashing by preachers, journalists and assorted other curmudgeons, who've become constipated by their own self righteousness. Come on, what is inherently wrong with being nice to the people you like for one month out of the year?
I do have my limits though. No kidding, one year I saw a holiday display depicting the baby Santa in the manger. Right next to it was another, that showed Santa kneeling before the baby Jesus. Now before you get your shorts in an uproar, let me say that both of these displays were located at Koreshan State Part in Estero, FL. The Koreshan Unity was a utopian society founded in late 19th century, and considering their unusual world view, a little confusion regarding the gospel of St. Luke, might be expected. But I digress.
In spite of the controversy, for us the Christmas season begins and ends with the tree. This is no ordinary fresh, live, expensive tree. Nooo... we love the cheap, cheezy, artificial variety. Not that I'm unnecessarily cheap or cheezy, it's just that I'm cautious. A fireman once told me how a Christmas Day house fire had ruined his holiday. I guess there's something about the charred remains of children, parents, pets and presents that can put a damper on any festive occasion.
So immediately following Thanksgiving, or at least by the first weekend in December, we release the tree from it's 11 month incarceration in the garage. And with the help of lights, ribbons, ornaments and several adult beveredges, we transform this modular mess of plastic and wire into something beautiful.
My favorite part is wrestling with the mini-lights. There's no way to do it right, and scores of ways to do it wrong. In fact, I've never hung them the same way twice. My goal is to space the lights evenly thoughout the tree, in as few attempts as possible. It's like golf. But like golf, you can obsess over it, and I generally do. When the kids were little, they'd grow bored and discouraged watching and waiting for me to get it just right. I have been known to ruin everyone's Christmas before it even gets started, because of the anger and frustration I succumb to during the annual lighting of the tree. After 2 or 3 drinks however, my mood generally improves, and I'm able to enjoy the rest of the evening, even if they can't.
The magic happens when we start hanging ornaments on the tree. (Martha Stewart would throw up if she saw the gems we've preserved over the years.) It's with great care that we unwrap and handle the one hand-blown glass ornament from my great grandmother's tree. Faded and fragile, it reminds us of the ancestral connection made this time of year, through the celebration of Christ's birth (or pagan ritual of trimming the tree, which ever you prefer). My personal favorite is the "Dood" ornament, named after my dad. It's a clear plastic little tabernacle with a shiny whirly-gig on the inside. Dood would make sure that it was suspended directly above one of those large colorful igniters. The heat rising from the bulb would make the whirly-gig go around, reflecting all the lights from its unique position in the tree. Since we use mini-lights now, the ceiling fan does the same thing, just in reverse. Then there's Hannah's 1983 hand print ornament, reminding us that our mechanical engineer was once an inquisitive 2-year-old. There's at least a dozen ballerinas and nutcrackers that grace the tree. Our Sarah was born to dance, and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker was her favorite. Most of the ornaments are hand made. Grammy spent countless hours over her needle point projects, and one of them, an angel, watches over our living room from the top of the tree. Last year, she told us that it was time to throw "that tired old thing" away. "Not in this lifetime," I thought. Years from now, after the kids have divvied up the ornaments that survive us, they may wonder about the cross-stitched ornaments that bear their names and birth dates. Mrs. Bauchspies made them. She was in her 80's and dealing with the grief of having lost her own child to leukemia. She made them because she loved us, and wanted us to have them. She also made the green cross-stitched frog, that always has a Hershey's Kiss inside.
We've been known to keep an artificial tree for decades. Each year it comes out of hibernation significantly more damaged and disheveled than before. Eventually it winds up in a garage sale or out by the street. I know, it's not a very suitable way to dispose of something so significant, but cremation or burial are both out of the question. Maybe the next tree will be a real one. Either way, it reminds me of the temporal nature of these bodies in which we live, and the enduring precious promises that we carry within them, and celebrate each year, in December.

Merry Christmas to All