Christmas is coming. Now that it's December, it seems like such a short time until it will be here and gone again. Christmas feels like a time especially made for unbrindled joy, for giving and laughing and frolicking in the rain/snow/mud and coming in to warm showers, clam chowder, and toasted bread. Christmas for me means cold weather, Christmas trees, snow, warm fires and cozy rooms, and hot chocolate.
Now that I'm in a different country, it's a little different, and Christmas never really like it should...partly because I have no piano. Real pianos (preferable big grand pianos that are black and belong to your great grandfather who lets you do whatever you want), for me, are a must in order to play Christmas music properly. And music is a big part of the Christmas spirit. And of course...there's the wonderful feeling of waking up on Christmas morning (for some reason I can never sleep in past 6:30 on Christmas Day no matter how long I've stayed awake the night before) and realizing "This is it!!! This is the day we've waited ALL. YEAR. for!" Then comes the delicious sensation of ripping into paper, finding the 4 bagfuls of socks you're thankful for and the new camera lense you're really really thankful for. (hint hint ;D) and the eating of maple syrup (albeit fake flavored) and pancakes and scrumptious bacon and perfectly cooked eggs for Christmas breakfast while wearing all your new clothes.
Then there's the skipping of lunch to marvel at all the new presents you've recieved, the eating of the 24 candy canes you find in your stocking...by the way, stocking are marvellous subjects. Have you ever noticed that no two families have the same kind of Christmas stocking?...Anyway, Christmas Eve and Christmas day are wonderful subjects, and I could probably write a bunch more about them (I probably will later on...)
this is a snowman
this is Shèngdàn Kuàilè (whose name translated means "Christmas Joy") the Chinese snowman from Yosemite
But what IS Christmas? What's it about? Most of us know the wonderful news of how Christ became man, came into the world, and died on a cross for our sins. But is that all? Does it end there? One of my favorite Christmas memories is from last Christmas, during a church service at CBC. It was the end of the service, and I remember the worship team leading the church in "O Holy Night". A couple lines in the last verse stuck out to me, and I don't think I'll ever forgot the sight of 500 fellow believers singing along to the words:
"...He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold, your king, before Him lowely bend
Behold, your King, before Him lowely bend!"
This to me embodies the reason of WHY we celebrate Christmas: because we're no longer alone. We no longer need to bear all our trials and cares on our own shoulders. In the words of Hebrews, "...we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." This is the reason He was born, and brought Light into the world. This is why we celebrate Christmas!
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