Christmas is perfect every year

In celebrating my first Christmas in retirement, I am sharing past columns I’ve written about Christmas. I call them the 12 columns of Christmas. The following was written for Dec.24, 2017.

“I want to feel Christmas, how it used to be, 

“With all of its wonder falling on me.

“This season has felt so empty, oh, for 

quite a while.

“I want to feel Christmas like a child.” 

– Lyrics from “Christmas Like a Child” by Third Day 

Christmas is perfect. That’s true every year because of what it represents: the birth of God’s son. Sometimes the way we observe the special day and season isn’t nearly as perfect. 

We want perfect gifts, perfect meals, perfect decorations and perfect weather. Too often our pursuit of that perfection overshadows the real perfection that is the Christmas season. 

The birth of Jesus in a stable should set the tone for how we approach the season — a world-changing event that is wrapped in simplicity. 

Young children may not fully understand the real meaning of Christmas, but their excitement over the happiness and joy that surrounds them should be an example for all of us. We need to focus on families, happiness, giving and anticipation. We need to think about the gift that was given to us and the importance of sharing that gift. Mostly, we need to focus on the love that the Christmas season represents. 

As we grow older, too many of us get so wrapped up in the busyness of the season that we lose those feelings. Christmas hasn’t changed, but many of us have. 

The first step in finding the perfect approach to Christmas is to focus on the reason for the season. The second step is setting aside time for family and friends. That’s the way I remember Christmas from my childhood and from the years before everything else during this season got in the way. 

I don’t remember many of the presents I received as a child, but I can’t forget my excitement when my grandparents would arrive early on Christmas morning. I also remember the live Christmas tree in the center of a large miniature village with a train and lighted houses and streetlights. I remember taking part in Christmas programs at church. 

After my family moved to Berks County in 1980, we met some friends and went caroling throughout our community, then we would return to our house for warm drinks and desserts. A few years later members of our church would travel to visit and sing to shut-ins and members in nursing homes. 

For years my wife and I shared a marathon cookie baking day about two weeks before Christmas. 

Every year, on Christmas Eve, my wife insisted that I read “The Night Before Christmas” to our three children. 

As we got older, perhaps we worried too much about all we had to
do or just got lazy, but some of those
special times were put on hold or
abandoned. 

That’s sad, and as I’ve grown older I realize the importance of those traditions. We’ve lost our focus. We’ve lost our way. So this year, I wanted to take the first steps to returning to the Christmases I knew years ago. Even though my wife is no longer with us, the cookie baking day returned with my family, including the new love in my life. 

She and I plan to serve meals to the elderly on Christmas Day, something she has done for several years. 

We’ll visit with some family members. 

Perhaps, after church on Christmas Eve, we’ll create a perfect picture of us sitting together in front of a fireplace with cups of hot chocolate in a room with a few special decorations, including a cherished family Nativity scene. 

That’s a start. Maybe next year we’ll bring back a big Christmas dinner with family members sitting around a table enjoying turkey or ham, perhaps roasted chestnuts like my grandmother used to make and warm apple pie and Christmas cookies. And then a long walk together. 

I didn’t mention all the gifts. They will be there, too, wrapped and waiting under the tree. But they are not what is most important. Years from now, we won’t remember any of them. We’ll remember the feelings from spending special time with family members. We’ll remember a child who was born into this world to provide peace, hope, forgiveness and love for all of us. 

I want to know Christmas as I knew it years ago.

I want to feel Christmas like a child.