It's Christmas Eve which has always been a special happy time. It's still that way today. I can remember all the anticipation as a child. The excitement about Santa building. The curiosity that would come over me. Thinking about reindeer and whether Santa would get down the chimney. Whether I'd get switches and coal which my father promised if I was bad. I'd hear stories of his childhood where he got candy and an orange for Christmas. I'd feel so bad sometimes that I'd cry because I couldn't imagine a Christmas with so little.
Now I can't imagine why there is so much under the tree. And I understand that I am fortunate but that it's not about material things. The excitement is still there. The anticipation still swells inside of me. But I realize that I can be happy without material things, glad without receiving, and grateful for just being.
So on this Christmas Eve, I'm wishing for you a magical feeling that brings out the meaning of Christmas for you, whatever it may be. I wish you glad tidings and great joy. And that inner peace will fill you with the spirit of the God of your understanding.
wow thats lovely syd. gets me in the festive mood.
ReplyDeleteIm going to run to st pauls for the midnight mass.
St Pauls is !! stunning. the current building was built between 1675 and 1710 after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London but there has been a cathedral on that site since 604AD.
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=97320F44yHMK9hndcXZBD5sVH4m52Yc0
You can FEEL the history emanating from the pores of the stone. it is magical, and breathtakingly beautiful. i will be praying for ! divine help with my essays! All for the benefit of those I can help (as per step 7 prayer) !
Cool. thanks for the nice post and have a good time. love the pic!
Thank you, Syd, that is lovely. I remember the anticipation too, I'd get so excited, It was a wonderful feelling. I wish you more of the same.
ReplyDeletethanks for those wonderful wishes! beautiful photo, is that your boat?
ReplyDeleteAll my love and respect to you my friend...
ReplyDeleteConsider yourself hugged!!!
~Shugrr
Maybe that orange wasn't so bad. Here is a little story someone shared with me:
ReplyDelete"Every year...my grandfather would come over to the house...i would show him my toys...then he would say...go over to my coat and look in the pocket...i'd run over...reach in...and there ... there... was an ORANGE???
An orange...hmmm, here was my Poppy...in the toy business...and he gave me an orange for Christmas...i didn't get it...but i loved him...and we spent a fun
day together...Well every year...he would do the same thing...he'd bring me an orange...
He loved oranges...he ate them all the time...he relished them...i never saw anyone enjoy that fruit more...and in his later years he moved to Florida...Ahhh...the motherlode...he always had oranges on his table...One day not long before he passed away...i asked him why he loved oranges so much...He pulled me close and told me this story...
I was born outside of Kiev...As a small child, life was very hard...
we were lucky to have a potato to eat now and then...Life was full of suffering...my sister died at 4...my older brother at 10...life was hard...In the year 1890, my mother and father sent me to America to live with relatives in Philadelphia...The ship was
crowded and smelly...we crossed during the winter and it was very
cold...We finally landed in the port of Philadelphia...my Uncle and Aunt were there to collect me...they hustled me into an open carriage...My Aunt was a lovely woman...she said to me...do you know what today is? No...i told her ... Why it's Christmas...!! and i have a little something for you...She reached in her pocket...and handed me something I had never seen before...It was an orange...i ate that orange right in the carriage...i never tasted anything like it...
Well to this day...nothing makes me more grateful that all the wonderful things in life that an orange...it reminds me of where I came from...and what a wonderful
life God has given me..."
hey I LOVE the orange story Kathy!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the famous flute player
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Galway
from northern ireland who grew up in the 'slums' in what later became a feared terrorist area. People used to always express sympathy when he said where he grew up, but he always said he was baffled by these remarks because he LOVED growing up there. He said he felt sorry for the kids who grew up in houses with BIg driveways and gardens because they seemed much more isolated. which they probably were..