Yesterday was a good day for Christmas. I don’t mean it was a good day to celebrate Christmas, I mean it was a good day for people planning Christmas.
There was one woman, groomed, early forties, designer beach towel, denim shirt-dress with metal button trim – the picture of upper middle class Cape Town except she was sitting on a wooden bench that smelled of boerewors rolls and snoek. This lady asked her daughter, “This year, do you want a fake Christmas tree or, you know, the other kind?”
To which her friend, tall, blonde, athletic-looking with lots of frozen grapes and neatly sliced veggies in little plastic containers replied, “I like fake trees. We grew up with real Christmas trees and we’d always have to go out and choose the best one, you know, the short, fat one but we could never find one that looked good enough. Not as perfect as a fake one. Now we have the fake ones because they’re, you know, perfect.”
Glad that’s settled.
And then there’s the third woman.
She arrives at the gate, checks her watch, quickens her pace a little and strides up to her friends, one hand firmly gripped on the pudgy leg of the child on her hip, the other hand clutching her morning latte. Now this lady I admire. Not only did she hustle to get to her friends on time with child in tow and caffeine fix sorted, but she’s intent on showing her children what Christmas really means. “We did Dubai last year – so beautiful but a bit over the top – so this year we’re going to New York and Disney.” (zzzzz).
But that got me thinking. What does Christmas mean? Mary and Joseph? Holidays and happy meals? Tinsel and turkey?
Or is it about something else? Is it about having a belief in something bigger and more powerful than you – something you can’t see, or touch, or measure? Instead of filling stockings, is Christmas about filling ourselves with something, perhaps gratitude and grace? Is it a time to consider our place in the world and the space we want to fill next? If Christmas is about giving, then what are we giving? Are we passing on consumerist values or something much simpler, and more significant?
I wonder.
For those celebrating Christmas, may it be meaningful. Whatever that means to you.
Gratefully yours x