christmas eve... the quiet hour before dinner
time to pause, breathe, gather thoughts, anticipation
it's interesting, getting older...
it always surprises me how differently i see things as the years slide by
when i was young i was enthralled with the story of st. nicholas... "santa" was who i believed to be the bearer of gifts but in grade five i read a book about the story of st. nicholas and i loved it
i thought then, and do still today, that it was a better story, a truer belief and something we could all aspire to, every day
to give what we can to those who need it more than we do
to think about others before we think of ourselves
a few years ago i made a "wrapping cloth" in one of karen ruane's classes - she spoke of a wrapping cloth being a cloth you make in honour of a person, to symbolically wrap them up and keep them safe. stitching your love for them into every part of it
i made mine in honour of christmas and all the love and memories i have of those early christmases of mine
of my mom who did everything she could to make them special, of my brothers and my friends, the importance of loving and giving
of sharing
of the year my oldest brother went out after we younger ones were asleep
he cut down a tree, set it up in our bedroom, decorated it and put presents under it - what a grand surprise that was!
there are stars on it like these. for the wishes that need wishing
and hearts like this one, for those who need loving...
christmas, with all it's beautiful layers of meaning, might seem like an odd thing to want to keep "safe"
but sometimes this world would like to drag us down a different path
and the love and joy the season brings, and all that goes with that, need a helping hand
