The Creature That Stirred
Deborah Venable
12/26/09
It
is often said that the Christmas Season is among the most perilous times for
those challenged souls facing any kind of adversity. Suicide rates supposedly go up and fragile psyches are stretched
to their limits as they succumb to the “poor me” syndrome.
Obviously
these people are not celebrating Christmas as it is supposed to be celebrated.
The
whole idea of Christmas is to bring us to our knees in gratitude and the
realization that we may experience peace on earth any time we choose. Peace, after all, is an individual
undertaking. We cannot bring peace to
anyone but ourselves, but if we are successful at that, then we have truly
accepted God’s greatest gift.
I
unwrapped that gift and bathed myself in it this Christmas. For the first time since I’ve had children,
I spent Christmas without any of them in my immediate presence, but I had all
of them around me anyway. Of course,
with the modern convenience of the telephone, I could hear their voices any
time I wanted, but that is not what I mean.
My
children and their good friends celebrated together and had a great time. I celebrated with two of my very best
friends, and we all enjoyed Christmas at home, even though we were many miles
apart.
Coming
home for Christmas does not necessarily mean that we must travel to that place
we call home – it just means that we arrive at that destination in our
hearts.
Certain
Christmas traditions are set and passed down in families, and on some
Christmases we find ourselves in situations that do not allow such traditions
be followed. While these traditions are
very important, they need not make or break every Christmas celebration. All too often, though, people will allow
such incidences to prevent their peace on earth.
Finding
joy in the simplest things is what truly counts. My favorite example of that for this Christmas occurred as my
children sat around their little Christmas tree that they had decorated with
homemade ornaments. It was a cold evening
a couple of days before Christmas. The
tree was placed in the addition the kids recently built onto the house where
there is presently no heat because it is as yet unfinished, but it is the room
they prefer to gather in anyway. The
lights were off except for the twinkling ones adorning the tree. To the children’s delight, a mouse appeared
in the tree, hanging upside down on a light cord, cheerfully nibbling at a
popcorn strand. I wasn’t there, but my
daughter’s description of it was hilarious!
The
creature that dared stir will be a story they can tell for many Christmases to
come.
I
hope everyone made some good memories this Christmas - memories that will
sustain you in the darkest of days and bring joy in the most unlikely of
times. That is what we are supposed to
do. That is the only kind of peace we
can guarantee ourselves, and it is the only lasting peace we can hope for on
this earth.