Craisy about Christmas, Craisy for life!

This is a time of year when Christians come out in droves to tell about the coming of their savior.  A birthday.  A day I believe is celebrated like Presidents Day ... not on an actual date, but a day of remembrance - despite it's clear misplacement on a calendar.  (The census that drew them to Jerusalem was a springtime event, after all.)  I am not discounting religion, it too has it's place during this holiday season.  I do believe in God.  I do believe that all paths to God are worthy ones.  I don't believe in the corporate control over organized religion.  I am one who thinks it's just as noble to celebrate God in the quiet of your home as it is to sing in a choir of 500 others on a Sunday morning.  To each their own path; this is after all, a free nation.  I am hoping to highlight another side of the holidays.   

As a mother to four angels, 'tis the season to be watching endless movies starring Santa and his entourage.  The holidays, after all, aren't over. There's the wise men, the feast, the New Year's Eve thing at Time Square - to name a few stops on the seasonal celebratory calendar.  Anyone who put their tree away already is really missing out on the 12 days of Christmas.  Once the shopping is done and Santa shows up, some people like to just hurry up and quit the holiday altogether.  I blame that on the malls.  They pump us full of impulse shopping highs, so naturally we crash as soon as the last gift in unwrapped.  

But I'm the Christmas Chick.  Christmas Craisy.  Call me whatever you want, Christmas, I can do!!!  We celebrate Christmas in stages in my family.  Christmas part two will be on Friday the 6th, as it should be.  We'll drink cider, toast to our love for each other, relish in the gratitude that comes from all the fine things we now aspire to become.  

There's a great line in a fun Christmas movie called "Elf".  Perhaps you've heard of it?  

I like to smile, I like to see smiles, I like the contagious nature of smiling.  I like the joy; the pure happiness it creates.  You can smile on your darkest day, and for that moment you won't be able to deny that it does actually feel a little better.  You can smile at a miserable old man too and chances are, he will indeed smile back.  Smiles are everything. 

Christmas isn't just a season of giving and receiving, as we have all come to know it as.  Christmas is a children's holiday, predating Christianity.  It's a holiday we all should remember begins and ends with children, their smiles and their very nature to experience unabashed joy at the delight of their families!  Children understand the holiday season to be much more than a trip to the mall and a late night of wrapping gifts and bandaging paper cuts.  They behave to the best of their abilities and hope to be rewarded for that with a gift, sure, but more importantly they expect to be loved, hugged and cherished.  They long to be with the people they care for and they delight in the togetherness the holiday brings.  They anticipate kind words in a Christmas card and happily bake cookies for the man in the red suit who took the time to notice how good they are.  

Children sing songs and smile and live every single day with that same joyful smile we plaster on our faces one morning a year.  If we can channel the generosity and joy of a child, we can truly appreciate Christmas for what it is.  Next year, I hope to live every day with that kind of hopefulness.  I don't intend to allow the spirit of the season to fade and then somehow mystically return again for a few weeks next winter.  Christmas marks one day in a long year.  It is my opinion that every day should be lived, not just to it's fullest, but to it's most joyful.