Christmas Innocence

          Do you remember your childhood enthusiasm for Christmas? I hope so.
        Yes, of course, there may well have been a healthy interest in presents and hoped-for toys, and lists for Santa Claus. How could children resist wrapped presents under the Christmas tree with their names on it? Who could blame you at the time? I certainly hope you don’t blame yourself for childhood materialism. You were a child, after all.
      Still, didn’t the magic of the Christmas tree itself, the lights and bulbs, catch your attention? Maybe there were homemade ornaments, perhaps even made by you, and brought out each year, even though, maybe, they weren’t the most beautiful items. They were still beloved because of the effort and memories.
         I hope that as a child you had a chance to bake and eat Christmas treats! Angel cookies! Nut squares! Fudge! Chocolate mints! Well, anything chocolate! Perhaps you managed to ruin a meal or two with your childhood indulgence?
           And, I bet all the figures in the nativity scene charmed you: animals and angels, shepherds and kings, a mom and a dad with a baby. Perhaps you arranged them, setting the sheep to chat with the donkey, the shepherds to converse with kneeling wise men? That’s what my younger siblings did.
          There was so much room for Christmas enthusiasm as a child, when we were innocent.
         If you’re like me, though, looking back over decades of Christmases, you might not want any more “stuff.” Presents may have lost their charm. And you may have to be the one putting up the tree, aware that only weeks from now you’ll be taking it down again, too.              And if your doctor is as fiercely determined to save you from yourself as mine is to keep me healthy, then a lot of the treats are temptations best kept at a distance.
         And then, there is the world around us, with fierce politics coming our way in a looming election year, and our own need to make choices, budget, keep informed and engaged. The press will provide us a relentless stream of struggle, pain and violence. It’s how they sell what they have. Do we know too much, doubt and grieve too much?
           Is innocence even available to us anymore?
           I hope so.
           God still breaks into the world to love us, and tell us that our lives have purpose and meaning. We need never be alone –
He’ll always be with us, teaching us the way to share our lives with one another, nourishing our human longing. There can be peace for those on whom God’s favor rests.

        So, I encourage you. Sneak a piece of fudge when your doctor’s not looking, and go play with the figures in the nativity scene. The donkey still has interesting things to share with the sheep. And there’s a baby, whose arms are wide open, hoping you’ll pick Him up, make a place for Him in your heart, and find some real joy.

I wish you and yours the best, most innocent and hopeful Christmas of your lives!

Fr. Patrick
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Pastor 

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