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 John
1 4:9, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into
the world.”
It’s so easy to forget the reason for the season. Whether you are
running manically around trying to put on the best Christmas ever or
planning a quiet reflective Christmas of times gone by……don’t forget
to let His light shine.
As I remember Christmas past, it’s the shiny, bright, pizzazz of the
season I remember best. Church was always the focal point of our
holiday. His birthday was at the top of the list. For weeks we as
the children at LaPrairie Presbyterian Church would rehearse our
lines of Bible verses and hymns depicting His arrival. The Saturday
before Christmas would find all of us kids, along with our frazzled
mothers at the church practicing in the choir loft and “on stage”.
What fun! I remember the thrill of being in church in our “regular”
clothes rather than our Sunday best. One class would be piously
preparing to their little hearts best and the rest of us would be
chattering in the pews, playing in the Sunday school rooms, or
having a snowball fight outside.
When the actual program was presented in front of the congregation
every child performed their very best. We wore finery appropriate to
the celebration of His birth and were somehow humbled by the
knowledge that we were celebrating something beyond our youthful
understanding and greater than our comprehension. The adults viewing
our pitiful performances ignored the sour notes, the mispronounced
words, and the fidgeting and squirming of farm kids not used to
being in front of people. Their faces were encouraging, loving, and
proud. Afterwards 99% of them couldn’t wait to congratulate us and
thank us for all our hard work and courage of being “up front”. Of
course, there was always the Negative Nancy adult that would
complain to our parents that we had scratched ourselves, sang with
our eyes closed, or were otherwise inappropriate in front of the
parishioners. Mother said that was fine. It prepared us for life
ahead of us. We would never be able to please all the people all the
time.
Speaking of church and mothers….I miss those wonderous corsages of
old. We would rush into the local dime store and root through the
bin of Christmas boutonnieres. They were made up of plastic holly,
breakable Christmas ornaments, glitter, and pizzaz. How I loved
them. Every mother would show up at church shouldering a flower
arrangement upon her coat. Her entire left side would be covered in
tinsel, bells, glitter, and glimmer. Her brood would be hanging on
to her beaming in pride knowing that their own momma had the best
corsage of all. What a bright light they brought into the lives of
mother and child.
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One year as a single mom, I gave my six-year-old some money and
turned him loose in the Ben Franklin store to buy me a gift. He was
ever so excited and kept his purchase a secret for days. He had
colored a picture on the brown paper bag from the store and handed
it to me on Christmas morning. It was a candy cane circle, wrapped
in plastic and tied with a green satin bow. He was sure he had given
me the most beautiful bracelet ever. I was a legal secretary at the
time, and he insisted I wear it to work. Wear it to work I did. The
12 days of Christmas saw me sporting that silly candy cane on my
left wrist. I remembered my mother’s awkward yet beautiful corsage
and figured I can do the same for my child. Even my attorney bosses
understood and accepted my fancy jewelry. I beg of you to see the
light…the pizzaz…..of Christmas through the eyes of a child and not
the disdain of proper etiquette. Those are the moments that brighten
our memories.
I love ugly sweaters. Not the ignorant smutty ones, but the funny,
bright joyful ones. At St. Paul’s we would cry our way through
“Silent Night” in reverence of the Holy Child and then turn on
battery operated earrings, necklaces, bracelets, ties and vests when
“Joy to the World” was played. We were ecstatic that God loved us
enough to send His son.
I once stood next to a lady dressed in a sleeveless black sheath
dress, her hair coiffed perfectly, sandals upon her impeccably
pedicured feet. It. Was. Christmas. I stood in my sweater, slacks,
snow boots, and ponytail. She asked me why I thought I was attired
properly for the holiday. Embarrassed at first, I recovered and told
her God loves us all as we worship him. I gave her a hug she didn’t
want and wished her a very Merry Christmas. Don’t Bah Humbug. Pizzaz!
I spent one memorable Christmas in Hawaii. Those people know how to
dazzle and pizzaz Christmas. Oh. My. Goodness. Took me awhile to
accept another culture’s joy of Christmas but to this day, get misty
eyed when I hear the song, “Mele Kalki Maka” (Merry Christmas). I
must admit I have never ever drunk as good a cup of coffee as I did
on the Big Island. Kona coffee in front of me, luau going on around
me, the turquoise ocean a few feet away made me realize I was a long
way from LaPrairie, Illinois.
Now is the time to wear those bright Christmas baubles and gewgaws
we somehow acquired through the years. If I could find a plastic
Christmas corsage and a candy cane bracelet, I’d buy them in an
instant. Pizzaz yourself into the most wonderful time of year. Our
God put the most brilliant of stars in the sky on that special
night. Follow His lead.
Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on His shoulders, and He will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
L. Maxine McQueen may be contacted at
maxmac.1@juno.com |
