A Walk Through the For(r)est

 

PANHANDLE -- There are some years where the “Christmas Spirit” is a moving target. It sounds weird, but I’ve heard it from more than one person this year.  

Of course, there are the retailers that are excited to be part of the process, and others who are almost lifelike characters of a Dr. Seuss episode where everyone breaks their credit cards. 

Who would have ever thought The Grinch would be as much of a hero as metaphorical reference? Be pouty, grouchy and anti-social. 

Sorry. That devolves from a rabbit trail to an expressway into darkness. 

Even if you have a distaste for the Christ reference in Christmas, which by the verbiage is hard to do, the holiday is an opportunity to draw a truce, enjoy the company of loved-ones and friends, and focus on the good things in life. There are enough headlines on how messed up the world is. Take a holiday from the stress. 

Focus on at least one scripture: “Peace on earth, good will to men.” It’s not a message to men vs women. It is a message to humanity.  

For my house, we will always have memories of the Christmas Eve family dinners, the blond-haired pajama-wearing little girl running out of the back of the house Christmas morning. And the rest of us sharing gifts sometimes before the other family dinner.  

We made a deliberate effort to keep the stress at a minimum and enjoy each other’s company, savor the moments while we had them. As a friend recently reminded me: you never know when that will change. 

The thing we too often overlook is the simplest gift can be the most important: a greeting, a “Merry Christmas” offered to the cashier or waitress, or even to the random stranger walking on the sidewalk. Rather than splitting hairs on religious accuracy, lets focus on what it does: give us an opportunity to give to people who don’t have the means to give back ... and enjoy our giving as much as they hopefully enjoy their receiving.