Dreaming of a White Christmas

So, here I sit, dreaming of a white Christmas. I'm afraid it is only a dream. The weather is balmy. It has actually seemed inappropriate this year to have a Christmas wreath on the door....it's sunny and warm.

But Christmas isn't really about atmospheric conditions. Snow, sleighbells (never have actually heard those on Christmas or much of any other time), even fires in the fireplace don't really make it Christmas. It's about tradition.

Of course, we always think first of the foods we love at Christmas, the ways our family celebrates. And that's a part of what I'm talking about when I say "tradition." As we learned from Fiddler, "Tradition!" holds things together. Our family traditions connect us to each other but also to the larger Tradition, especially at Christmas. The larger Tradition is the history of those who follow Jesus, and how they have worshiped and honored Him, and specifically, the Incarnation.

So, I'm tired of the annual Christmas War, led by those who want to diminish the importance of the celebrations. Yes, of course, we borrowed a lot of the traditions from Pagan cultures or Turner Classic Movies. But God is about redemption, so the hanging of the wreath, the lighting of the tree, the yule log (not my family's tradition but I've been thinking of making Julia Child's Buche de Noel this year!), all can be redeemed to honor the Incarnation. As the Eastern Church says, his becoming flesh has redeemed flesh and all of creation. So, the tree, the holly, the applesauce cake, the bubble light (that one is for Corky) can all reflect the greatest of all stories.

So, while I dream of a White Christmas....Christmas is actualized even in the heat of a Southern December!