Christmas Presence
One of my fondest childhood memories of Christmas has to be The Cheetah. No, I am not talking about the fastest of all land mammals. For those of you who were not a young boy in the early 1970’s, the cheetah was the pinnacle of ride-on toys. This was no wimpy “Big Wheel” - its name promised a more exhilarating experience. I imagined that with this vehicle, I could zoom down my neighborhood sidewalks in Bartlesville, Oklahoma as fast as the animal for which it was named. In my mind it epitomized the ultimate Christmas gift, and of course I let everyone know it was at the top of my wish list. The memory of receiving this gift and racing down the street is clearly imprinted in my memory to this day. Few other gifts made this kind of impression on me growing up. Of course there were a few exceptions, but for the most part I do not remember many of the other Christmas presents from my childhood.
Traditions
This is not to say my memories of Christmas are fuzzy. Christmas was always a time of great anticipation at our house, and not only for the toys that were sure to be opened on the night of Christmas Eve. For us the season started around Thanksgiving with our annual trek up into the attic to retrieve the boxes of decorations. Climbing into the dusty attic seemed like a rite of passage to me, and if you saw my wide eyes you would think I was on a safari or other adventure (perhaps to a galaxy far, far away). Usually this ritual found my dad crawling back to the far corners of the space and pushing box after box to me. I would either take the boxes down the stairs or hand them to my brother below. We felt so proud to help with the boxes. Because of our family tendency for horrible allergies, our Christmas tree came in a box with each branch color-coded to indicate the placement on the green metal “trunk”. Even though artificial trees can never fully substitute for the beauty of a real one, our tree always seemed beautiful to us despite being loaded down with so many ornaments, lights, garland, and icicles.
On Christmas Eve, the celebration kicked into high gear. I always looked forward to the special candlelight church service, not so much for the many Christmas carols we sang but for the opportunity to hold a lighted candle in church! Cool! At the front of the sanctuary advent candles were lighted, and the flame was transferred one by one to individual handheld candles throughout the room. My family usually sat in a pew towards the back of the auditorium, so to me it always seemed to take forever to get the flame to our candles. I swear that on some nights “Silent Night” was almost over by the time the flame arrived. As I remember, the experience of holding the candle and raising it up and down at key moments of the song was well worth the wait. It is a miracle that our church didn’t burn to the ground given the number of children wielding fire!
Of course after “Silent Night” concluded, all that was on my mind was getting back home to the Christmas presents. No chatting with other families - let’s go home! Presents awaited us at the house, not to be outdone by dozens of snacks prepared by my mom. There were pretzels covered in chocolate, peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate, chocolate pie, and did I mention chocolate? A deli tray with cuts of meat and cheese awaited those who did not crave sweets. Usually my brother and I were able to convince the family that we should open the presents before (or at least during) snacking. The eager boys would always hand out the presents, and then all of us would go around the room opening our gifts in order of youngest to oldest.
After the hoopla surrounding Christmas Eve subsided, Christmas morning was somewhat anticlimactic. It was time for one “Santa” gift plus some token gifts in the stockings. At the risk of sounding like an old-timer, the only apple products in our stockings were the edible kind…. and we LOVED IT! (Okay, this comment was for the benefit of my children who are usually treated to iPods, DVDs, and CDs.) I also remember sometimes getting to meet Santa at our house. One of my family members would dress the part and deliver mesh “stockings” filled with fruit and trinkets. I don’t remember if we knew it was him in the Santa suit or not - I guess we were too mesmerized by the fruit.
Christmas Presence
Now as a husband and father of three, I look back at my childhood from a different perspective. Just as countless other parents have discovered through the centuries, I appreciate Christmas as a time for families to connect and reconnect. As the charity Advent Conspiracy so cleverly reminds us, Christmas is about presence not presents. Christmas presence is being there (and not twittering on your iPhone) with your spouse and children. Christmas presence is creating family memories and meaningful traditions. Christmas presence is sharing God’s love with others through sacrificial generosity. Most of all, Christmas presence is reflecting on how much we are loved by God. God gave us His presence in the form of a baby born in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago. With the birth of Jesus, God told the world that he wanted an intimate relationship with each one of us. He wanted to be present in our lives just like a good father is for his children. God modeled perfect love for us not from afar, but with us, in person on this planet.
I am so thankful for my parents, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for sharing Christmas experiences and loving me in my childhood. I am so thankful to have a wonderful wife and children (and extended family) with which to create new Christmas memories. Most of all, I am thankful to Jesus for sharing His Christmas presence with the world. I guess for me Christmas presence is all about thanksgiving.