Home for Christmas

"I'm dreaming tonight of a place that I love
Even more than I usually do
And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you...
I'll be Home for Christmas
You can count on me"

It is said "You can't go home again". What does this really mean. You can’t recover the past? This saying is the title of a novel by the twentieth-century American author Thomas Wolfe. What did he know?

The Christmas season is upon us yet again. and every year I try and grasp that magical feeling I had as a child and youth. That is my idea of going home and trying to recover the past. It's hard to explain but I guess one's description of the "Christmas spirit" comes close. Every day in December leading up to the 25th was special. In fact Christmas Day tended to be anti-climatic. You couldn't wait for it to come but when it came you wished you could go back to a date "before". it was the build-up and anticipation. There was "something in the air" that is just not prevalent today and hasn't been for a long time. people seemed nicer, school was even cool (say what), your family was wonderful, even your enemies became your friends. There truly seemed to be "peace on Earth, goodwill toward men". It was not just a Bible verse or slogan... it was real. i wonder if children still experience this nirvana. If they do maybe it just means that we grew up and out of it when the pressure of the real world turned us into cynics.

Or maybe today is different. I don't remember stores being open at 4 AM the day after Thanksgiving, which is commonly known as "Black Friday". The most well known reference to that "black day" label was when the stock market crashed in 1929 (Black Tuesday) which set off the Great Depression... not a time to celebrate. On this final weekend before Christmas it looks like the retailers are outdoing themselves by again opening their doors well before the sun comes up and staying open until 2 AM. Some stores in New York are pulling all-nighters and staying open round the clock for 83 hours straight. I have nostalgia for Department stores being "closed" on Sunday (I kid you not)year round and yes even in December. Is anyone else weary about reading reports of retail sales during this most "glorious" season, as if nothing else mattered. anyone going near a mall does so at their own risk. Fighting parking lot gridlock to find a parking spot is probably akin to what Hell may be like.

In my version of Christmas, I can still smell the Christmas tree (yes, a real one) in our home... and it didn't go up until 2 days before the big day. and it certainly wasn't trimmed until Christmas Eve (in the day sometimes). Johnny Mathis always seemed to create the backdrop with any number of songs. I remember "Silver Bells" because of the vivid pictures of "city sidewalks dressed in holiday style, in the air there's a feeling of Christmas" where "on every street corner you hear Silver Bells because It's Christmas time "in the city". That I can relate to, not so much the rural sounding "Winter Wonderland" with it's picture print of "Currier & Ives" although I still like the song. i also love the Budweiser commercial with the Clydesdale's but I can't relate to that either. Give me the urban cityscape and dress it up with lights, music, and pageantry. If you have ever visited New York over this season, you can get close.

Many of my friends had train sets set up in their living rooms. I had racing cars on a figure 8 track. How that ritual got started, I'll never know. Of course there is the obligatory eggnog that surfaces and never makes an appearance at any other time. There were cookies.. oh my were there! Butter cookies hot off the grill, home made pizzelles (Italian wafer cookie with an anisette taste). and my families favorite delicacy - stuffed olives. They were the big hit. My father would literally count them. He would freeze them and crack them out when company would arrive... and plenty of company did eventually arrive over the Christmas season. Louie (my DAD) would always offer a shot of Canadian club whiskey - to go along with the cookies. If he really liked you he would break out the olives. But you could only have your ration.

There are so many traditions, rituals and memories but let's not forget the "true reason for the season"... the birth of Jesus Christ. Just maybe it is His spirit that was launched into the world. Jesus said one must have the Faith of a child to come to Him. We 'adults' try but fail to get it many times. Believe!!! without seeing... like a child. He is the ultimate gift, the reason we should be celebrating. As I look back today, just maybe it was my belief in Him that made it all special. Just knowing "God was with us" (the meaning of the name Emmanuel) every day but especially prevalent in this season. when else throughout the year can you hear the beautiful hymns and carols playing everywhere in a mostly "secular" culture.

Think of the words about "....our dear Savior's birth", O night Divine, the night that Christ was born", "Glory to the new born King", "Go tell it on the mountain... that Jesus Christ is born". Indeed, a virtual rejoicing every year at this time. Try singing or reciting these words in the public square during the year and you might get arrested. So take advantage of these days and revel in the joy and comfort that Christmas brings because the greatest event in the history of mankind, the coming of the Lord, is to be celebrated... even with too many presents, too much food (careful on too much drink), too many sweets, even too much Santa. Go for it all but know that God is with us, not only in this season but every day all year. That is a tradition we can all come home to this Christmas. Count on it... even without snow and mistle toe.