For many adults, the spirit of Christmas is about as bright as a burned-out lightbulb that makes the whole tree go dark.
Somewhere along the way, the magic faded. Santa, his elves and reindeer are still part of the season, but now the holiday hustle and bustle seems to steal away the joy we once felt as kids.
Shopping is a hassle. Who thought it was a good idea to put all those stores out on 54, especially with all that construction crowding the lanes even closer together? Apparently the bypass (or whatever it’s called these days) is a combination of the Indy 500 and the demolition derby, and don’t even think about finding a parking space within a mile of the store.
Online shopping is not much better, what with the stress of scrolling desperately through the options to find the best price, free shipping, and guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve – and that’s not even counting the worries of your precious purchases being snapped up by some predatory porch pirate.
Cooking and baking become a chore rather than a delight. Maybe it’s time for that three-generation recipe with 46 ingredients to fade away once and for all. After all, does anyone really care if the fruitcake is homemade or store-bought – and for that matter, who likes fruitcake anyway?!?
Wrapping gifts is a big mess that takes over the kitchen table with rolls of wrapping paper that somehow always roll right off the end of the table, scissors that mysteriously disappear, and tape that runs out with three packages remaining.
Office tensions are running high as co-workers bicker over who worked Thanksgiving three years in a row and should therefore have priority for vacation time at Christmas, and in the meantime, you had forgotten that the schools are closed starting Dec. 19 this year and now you’re left scrambling for a babysitter on those extra days.
It might be easier to bring about world peace than it is to juggle how you are going to spend the holidays with in-laws vs. outlaws, with grandparents living in different time zones all clamoring to see the children open their gifts on Christmas morning.
And what could possibly be worse than a white Christmas, with snow and ice making everything more difficult than it already is?
Ho ho ho.
Maybe it’s time to step back and start all over.
Go back to when Christmas really was magical – and it had nothing to do with snow or shopping or fruitcake.
The people gathered around the tree were more important than what was under the tree.
The gift children will remember all their lives is the same one we adults will remember if we will only stop long enough to reflect on our own memories. It wasn’t wrapped in pretty paper with a bow on top.
It was the gift of being together to celebrate love.
That is a light that will never burn out.
