Opening the Year – Putting Away Christmas – Part the first:

Greetings Dear Reader,

It always seems to come and go too quickly for me. 

Photo by Natalie Foley

I must say that I have enjoyed my Christmas decorations immensely this year.  My Daughter Christmas did all the decorating and the house is beautiful.  Her natural artistic ability has shown through the decorating this year.  The time that I have spent simply enjoying the beauty must be credited to this lovely young lady.  This is the week that we sequester the ornaments, trees, bubble lights, and trapping until next Thanksgiving. 

This always evokes a sadness in me that is not deep but is troublesome.  When I was younger it was much worse.  As I have said several times over the last month I now have something to remind me of Christmas out year round.   This year I added a beautiful porcelain nativity that will remain in my sleeping room.

The trees will be divested of their decorations and put in the Christmas room with care.  The bubble lights will be stored in a way that assures their vitality for next year.  We will need to retire one of the trees I think as it seems a little ragged. 

Carefully sequestering the decorations is a first step in preparing for Christmas yet to come.  It is an act of faith that the seasons will roll through their course and bring me back to that moment when Christmas carols are welcome someplace besides in my head.  It is belief that the celebration will return and there will be another time of public wishes for peace on earth and good will to men.

There are other ways I will exercise this faith.  We can discuss that tomorrow.  For now I am going to pour a cup of coffee and spend a little quiet time admiring the beautiful bubble lights and the artistry of my daughter.   After all moments spent meditating on the gift of Christ and yearning to celebrate him are never wasted moments.

The Lost Christmas Eve – Trans Siberian Orchestra

On a street in the night

In the cold winter’s light

A child stands alone and she’s waiting

And the light that’s out there

It just hangs in the air

As if it was just hesitating

And the snow it comes down

And it muffles the sound

Of dreams on their way to tomorrow

And when they appear

This night will hold them near

For where they will lead

She will follow

For here in this city of lights

This evening awakens

The dreams that it might

The winter it conjures

The spells it will weave

The snow gently covers the ground

Christmas Eve

In this scene

On this night

There’s an ancient hotel

Where shadows they do tend to wander

And the ghosts that live here

Hold each moment so dear

For time’s not a thing one should squander

And they recount their sand

As it runs through their hand

And examine each moment for meaning

It can be wished upon

Till the moment it’s gone

Like day disappears into evening

For here in this city of lights

This evening awakens

The dreams that it might

The winter it conjures

The moment is seized

The snow gently covers the ground

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Christmas

Christmas

Christmas

Christmas

Through this night

The dream still wanders

As it was meant to be

And every year this night grows fonder

Of children and circumstance

Caught in this childhood dance

As the world turns around

Keeping dreams on the ground

Windows of frosted ice

Prisming candlelight

And somehow we

Start to believe

In the night and the dream

As it cuts through the noise

With the whisper of snow

As it starts to deploy

In the depths of a night

That’s about to begin

With the feeling of snow

As it melts on your skin

And it covers the land

With a dream so intense

That it returns us all

To a child’s innocence

And then what you’d thought lost

And could never retrieve

Is suddenly there to be found

On Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve

On Christmas…

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store." 

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