Dear Theophilus:: December 2003

Christmas Past and Present:: Christmas: my childhood memories

Giving and RECEIVING
            Santa

Too cold to skate but skating anyways because it's Rockefeller and it's Christmas (Actually my mother paid for us to skate and now she won't let us off the ice)
"chestnuts roasting over an open fire"
       "O Christmas Tree"
               clean smell of pine, exhausting my lungs to breath it in
Family. Closeness. Midnight mass. My dad's birthday. My friend's birthday.
       Arroz con frijoles (an amazing mixture of pork, black beans and white rice with seasonings)
Snowflakes: white as snow. Cold noses. Colds
               Scrooge. The play. Occasional family fighting out of love.

STOP. This Christmas.

In Spanish, the word Christmas can be separated into two words: "Christ" and "mas". "Mas"
in Spanish means "more": it was one of my favorite words as a toddler and perhaps
descriptive of part of the human condition.
This season, my heart wants more of Christ.
This season, through prayer and community, I am honored to stand in awe of this
tremendous gift of Christ.

Christmas continues to encompass family, food, merriment, and snow.
But this season, I am able to remember and acknowledge Christ in all.

Stand with me in awe and gratitude as we celebrate Christmas.