December continues to be a month of memories. The cold air always brings with it the smell of burning wood, and to me, that smokey aroma is the clarion call for Christmas. With the backdrop of a cold, black sky the house lights illuminate your breath as you exhale. I can't keep the thought out of my mind that, "It's the most wonderful time of the year."
I grew up in north Houston in the Greenspoint area and then later in Spring/Klein. Back then Greens Road was the edge of the city. FM 1960 was still two lanes of Jack Rabbit Road with pine forests lining the ditches, and you had to be careful not to slip down off the road--your car would end up lying on its passenger side edge.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve the mall was packed with shoppers. I liked the atmosphere of the mall: Christmas music playing, colorful lights, and tinsel and flocked boughs hanging in the windows of each store. People seemed to be happy and optimistic. It's probably because they liked shopping. As a child listening to the piped in music, I really believed that there would be Peace on Earth and Joy to the World. Apparently the mall is still packed with shoppers; I just don't go there anymore.
When we sang those songs in the car I remember thinking, "Someday there will be peace." We're singing about it now, and we get a glimpse of it during this shopping season. But, Someday! Someday, there will be peace.
In the last few decades however that childlike dream of peace and joy seems illusive. Wildfires, earthquakes, political fighting, death, the tension and aggravation that plagues the rest of the year has crept into this joyous season.
We faithful people struggle with living in this temporal world while our hearts and minds are set toward the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Advent Season we want everyone to be mindful that we are preparing for the coming of the Lord. Part of me wonders if the tension isn't intensified by us preachers railing against consumerism and materialism.
What ever the cause of disharmony, I have decided that what I want for Christmas is Joy and Peace. And if I am to have peace, then I must act to resolve tensions. I must become a doer of peace within my sphere of influence. I must be a voice of calm and I must be a giver of joy.
I'm going to reevaluate what brings me Joy during this season. Those childhood memories of frosty nights with smoke lofting through the neighborhood are good peaceful memories. Contrasted with the hectic pace and concern over who gets what present, how many, and what's the cost I would rather let those things go.
As an adult looking back at Christmas past, it isn't the gifts that I remember opening on Christmas Day; it's the houses of family members decorated with trees and colorful lights, candy dishes filled on the coffee tables. It's sitting in the dark living room beneath the lit Christmas tree when everyone else has gone to bed.
Peace is a choice I make and here I sit silently...waiting for Jesus to come.
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