We had a wonderful time at Ira Kaye’s and Ron’s house yesterday. Our niece, Tara was there with her children and our great niece and nephew…Tyler and Paige. Mike our nephew was there and I am never around him that I do not think what a great person that he is. He almost has his pilot’s license and he is a wonderful father. Tara is someone who I am exceedingly proud of. Paige and Tyler are simply a delight! Ira Keye prepared a wonderful Christmas feast. Ron found our fire…and we smoked some Rye Whiskey…and liked it…and laughed accordingly… I left the Christmas Celebration feeling full of love and happy to have such a wonderful family.

I viewed part of the new movie, Don’t Look Up, on Netflix while we were in Salem. I finished it at home…Christmas Eve Evening. The movie reminded me of the value of critical thinking. Reluctant to give the plot away…let me just say that the leaders of the fictional story framed the apocalyptic news that two scientists brought them in their own political and economical expediency. When the scientist endeavored to explain the imminent end of the earth…the media softened the message into Facebook mush. Human interest stories gained far more attention than their life/death message. Finally, the possibility of economic gain superseded the protection of the only planet that any of us have to live on.

Once…someone asked me what I did as a child. I was somewhat embarrassed when I answered that I enjoyed thinking… a lot. Now…I also enjoyed swimming and playing pool and riding my bicycle…and Old Maid… However…there is no shame in…thinking… Everything is not what it appears at Face Value. Friends and neighbors may tell you that something is the truth…but it may not be… Many years ago a friend tried to convince me that I should join his church…where the minister did much of the thinking for the congregation. I responded that I make a lot of mistakes…but I much preferred to think for myself.

2022 is less than a week away. Although it seems more like a month than a year between Christmasses…there will be many challenges in the New Year. I will be seeking a life of purpose and to follow God’s will as I perceive it with the brain that he gave me. Or as the Poem Invictus says:

‘Out of the night that covers me

‘Black as a pit from pole to pole,

‘I thank whatever gods maybe

‘For my unconquerable soul.

‘In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud,

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody but unbowed.’

‘Beyond the place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me unafraid.’

‘It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishment the scroll,

I am the master of my fate

I am the captain of my soul.’

So, the time has arrived. Christmas Eve is here and the Christmas Lights are strung and the Christmas Gifts are wrapped and Christmas Turkey is unthawing. I have heard it said that a lot of pizza is consumed on Christmas Eve. Santa has already begun his journey. Christmas Dinners are being prepared for the homeless and the poor. Our hearts are full of the joy of the season…our cup runneth over.

Christmas Wine is being uncorked to facilitate it being able to breathe. Some of us are scurrying to buy that last-minute gift that we either did not have the money for…or could not find. We look for the conclusion to the Story of humanity’s redemption and the end of suffering and death and pain and hate and strife…when in reality…tomorrow is the beginning of all of our hopes and dreams…if we choose…

December 26th will come as sure as the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. After Christmas Sales will be in every department store…and the lines will be long to return items that do not fit or that the person who received the gift does not want. There will be Christmas Leftovers to eat and movies to watch and relaxation to enjoy… We will refresh and renew and look toward the New Year with hope and anticipation. But will we forget what manner of woman and man that we were today and on Christmas…and what the Spirit of Christmas whispered to us when our hearts were full of love for our fellow man?

It is a quiet/hectic day in Little Egypt. Traffic is backed up in Carbondale…and that is not usually a problem. Markets are full of women and men looking for those last-minute accouterments for their magnificent Christmas Dinners. There is a bit of a frenetic nature to their shopping…as if they do not hurry…the Holiday may transpire without them. Social Distancing has been left by the curbside of Social Expediency. Christmas comes but once a year…but are we ever truly ready…

Reminiscing is enjoyable and comforting. My friend, Steve, purchased a subscription for me to a magazine entitled, Reminisce. I remember celebrating Christmas at the annual Building Services Christmas Party during the late 1970s’. There was our superintendent, Mr. O’Hara, who was a person who I desperately wanted to please by doing good work…especially after he had hired me during the fall of 1978. It was a Potluck Dinner and the Service Employees Union put it on each year. My supervisor, Joe, told me to be careful which coffee urn that I drew my punch from as one of them was spiked…a lot. I happily noticed that he kept returning to the Spiked Urn. I sat among my colleagues and considered how blessed MJ and I were in that I had a job that would turn into my career and the pay and benefits were wonderful for Southern Illinois. We were looking at several days off with pay…and a better bonus could not have been offered. Then I saw a group of executives come in at the back of Muckeleroy Auditorium in the Agriculture Building. It was the Physical Plant Director, Mr. Tony Blass, and the Vice President for Campus Services, Mr. Clarence Dougherty. Mr. Dougherty, known as ‘Doc’ shook the hand of every person in the house…and I was thoroughly impressed. I felt rich beyond measure as a Building Service Worker I for Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale.

Kindness is Christmas…for me. When someone reaches out to me…and I feel their humanity and their concern…I understand the Christmas Spirit…and why Scrooge was so excited when he was given a second chance. The Spirit of Christmas is really in each of our hands…when we outstretch them to our neighbor in need. Christmas is ethereal and solid…it is concept and practice…it is hope and the delivery of that hope…

Many years ago…in our last century…I felt the kindness of a church full of dedicated and hardworking people. MJ and I and Aaron and Jonathon attended the Christmas Eve Service at First Presbyterian Church in Carbondale, Illinois. I had never attended a Christmas Eve Service before. The minister preached a short sermon that was right out of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. The lights were dim…and then they were snuffed out as we sang Silent Night by candlelight. I could see Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit in the corner. Afterward…each smiling face of my fellow Presbyterians greeted me with the words, Merry Christmas, and I knew what the words meant…in my heart.

I was engaged in my favorite pastime…this time of year…admiring the Christmas decorations in Campus Woods…when what did I hear but the faint sound of bells ringing…perhaps it was Santa and his reindeer a few days early. As I was photographing the ornaments that have been placed on the trees in the woods by benevolent Christmas Celebrators…the faint pleasant peel of bells increased…and I marveled at the Christmas Magic that I was witness to. Then…a woman passed me jogging and her Dachshund ran…as best he could…behind her as the bells that were affixed to his collar sounded their glorious refrain.

Christmas is three days away and we wait for the birth of Jesus. In our world which seems to be centered on every woman and man for themselves…we wait for the Christ who taught us to love each other as we love ourselves. We wait for the gift of God who rode into Jerusalem on an Ass and had palms cast in front of him and who was acclaimed as the Son of God…who later was beaten and had a crown of thorns placed upon his head…and who was crucified. At times we are a fickle lot…We say that we want one thing…and when we get it…we suddenly decide that we want something else instead. Moses went up onto the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and after he was gone a few days the Hebrews in the Wilderness lost hope and told Aaron to fashion them a Golden Calf to worship…

So now we wait for the hope of the ages…over two thousand years…the birth of the Babe in the manger in a barn…because there was no room in the inn.

Four days left until Christmas. Santa knew that he must speak with his colleagues to let them know that he had been feeling in this time of Pandemic. He asked Humphrey to gather all of the Reindeer and Elves and Front Office Staff…which were elves…together to hear a few words from him about what they were facing this year…2021… He knew that Rudolph felt marginalized and that many of the elves had felt unappreciated…and that everyone felt burned out. This was a year that could make or break Christmas…and the Spirit of Christmas was sorely needed in every home and hovel and in all human hearts…

You could hear a pin drop in the large North Pole Auditorium that Santa had gathered everyone in to speak to them from his heart… ‘Thank you for coming,’ Santa said. ‘Each of you is vital to our Christmas Operation…and I could not do this job without you, he continued. Our Pandemic is attempting to destroy Christmas…and with that the Spirit of Christmas…and with that…the hope of all mankind,’ Santa said softly and with deep remorse. ‘The Pandemic is the New Grinch…and it must be battled and defeated…’ exclaimed Santa! ‘We must aid each child in getting vaccinated and their parents too…or we are in danger of succumbing to our darker side,’ Santa continued.

Rudolph stood up and asked to speak. ‘I am foursquare behind Santa Claus,’ said Rudolph. ‘We are the hope of the children of the world…and we must lead in this fight against our Pandemic,’ Rudolph said. ‘As for me…I will donate all of my 25% bonus to vaccinations for the children and I hope my fellow Reindeer will do so as well.’ ‘We must support the Spirit of Christmas by giving hope to the children for a brighter future for them to grow up in,’ Rudolph intoned.

Mrs. Claus stepped up to the microphone and said, ‘Santa had been sick this entire Christmas Season…he has had Covid…and recovered…slowly…but instead of following his Doctor’s advice to retire to Destin, Florida…he has chosen to stay and fight this dreaded Disease…and to bring hope to all of the children of the world. The auditorium erupted with applause and Humphrey and Rudolph and many others carried Santa on their shoulders around the room to the peels of, ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow…!’

Santa asked Dr. Anthony Fauci to be his special guest to accompany him on Christmas Eve to bring hope and comfort and the gift of vaccinations to the children of the world…

Christmas is four days away…are you feeling the Cheer? It is a lovely day with 50 degrees and a brilliant Sun in the sky. Last-minute Christmas shopping seems to be booming if the traffic is any barometer. I heard a newscaster say that Christmas Sales are forecast to be record-breaking. I remember my childhood when I felt fortunate to hear a Christmas song or two on the regular radio…and to see, what my mom called Scrooge…once a season if lucky…and then after my bedtime. Now I enjoy satellite radio and have seven different stations dedicated to Christmas in all of its genres…and Christmas movies on television at almost anytime that I want to view them…including DVDs.

Mom took out of the closet tabletop Christmas Tree for most of my teenage years at home with her and my step-father. She would laugh and point to its display with some personal pride and announce, ‘This is my Christmas Tree!’ From Thanksgiving until Christmas mom instructed MJ and I and later Aaron and Jonathon…to not visit her on our customary Saturdays…as she would be deep in the midst of preparing for Christmas. We often speculated how it took a month to prepare with the table-top Christmas Tree and a little house cleaning and one Roast Beef Christmas Dinner to prepare. But we obeyed our instructions. On Christmas Day there would be the most succulent Roast Beef and cornbread that would melt in your mouth and mom’s Famous Coffee Cake…that she only prepared on Christmas…and not every Christmas. Uncle Ed would be there with his cherubic face and wandering eye…and uncle Bill was sitting and grinning and moving his tongue in and out of his mouth…as a nervous tick… In later years Aaron and Jonathon were the stars of the show. They both received a plethora of gifts and love from everyone and their little eyes showed with the joys of Christmas. This was about the time that we discovered the joys of wine… Earlier we had been a bunch of non-alcohol people…believing that our abstinence had brought us a bit closer to God than those Wine Bibbers… However, we saw the light…and Christmas became more warm and comforting and cheer was discovered among natural enemies…

This year…as every year before it…the age-old question is being asked…’Does it feel like Christmas to you?’ Or you may hear the variant…with apologies to Covid…’Are you feeling the Christmas Spirit…are you feeling cheerful?’ There is no easy answer to this dilemma…the answer lay within each of us. The Spirit of Christmas usually comes to me in one or two or three moments…often fleeting… One year…many years ago…I was at a Christmas performance at Shryock Auditorium on the Campus of Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale. The three Wisemen were involved and I was taken by surprise when, although we were sitting at the back of the House, the deep resonate voice of one of the Wisemen began to sing…just over my shoulder…and the hair stood up on on the back of my neck…I was in the zone… Or last year we took a tour of the Fox Theatre in St. Louis and the performer portraying Dickens’s The Ghost Of Christmas Present…began to sing…and it was suddenly real to me…Christmas was real… Or for several years we traveled to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to join our friends, Faye and Steve, to share a Condo. We customarily left Salem, Illinois after Christmas Dinner with Ron and Mary Jane and Tara and Mrs. Moore…and Mike and Paige and Tyler. I was standing with Steve on the balcony of the Condo and looking at the majestic Smokie Mountains…and it was just about midnight on Christmas…and I felt the awesome beauty of our shared Holiday…

Difficult time bark at our heels like the ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’…but they always have. The Joy of the Season…The Miracle of the Birth of Jesus…The Hope of Mankind…is waiting for each of us…to open our heart…as it has always been there…waiting for us…

Five days until Christmas…and Rudolph could not be found. Billy B. and Chet had been given the task of locating him but so far…to no avail. Humphrey, the Lead Elf in charge of Toy Manufacturing, was beside himself…literally, as he had requested his twin brother, Hobart, join him for the last few days of toy work…before the big event. While Humphrey was a bit polished and cultured and somewhat debonair…Hobart was rough or un-planed around the edges. Hobart had misunderstood his help to be in the form of assisting his brother in the management of the Toy Shop…when in reality Humphrey wanted him to create his famous Wooden Rocking Horses. Rudolph had last been seen when Hobart had reprimanded him for being in the way in the Toy Shop and gave him a hammer and some finishing nails. Now Rudolph was a rather sensitive sort…as most Artists are…and he understood that his duties were more important, in his mind than Hobart’s, and thus he said to Evelyn the Elf, ‘Let Hobart lead the reindeer this Christmas Eve…I am off to Destin, Florida for some white sand and beautiful green Gulf Coast water.’

Santa said, ‘Billy B. and Chet…you must fly down to Destin and see if you can find Rudolph…we can not make the trip without him…he is the only one who has a red nose. Chet responded, ‘Santa, indeed his nose does have a nice red glow…but your nose gets quite red after you have had a couple of Dirty Martinis…’ Santa said, ‘Never mind about that, Chet, Santa takes a Dirty Martini now and then for his arthritis.’ ‘Now go quickly as Rudolph is probably at Wine World in Watercolor…as it is his favorite hang-out, Santa exclaimed!

Jane said that she wanted to accompany Billy B. and Chet as Rudolph listened to her…while he might not accept what the two gentlemen had to say. Billy B. agreed and off they flew…’like the down of a thistle…as Clement Clark Moore said so eloquently. Soon they had landed on the sugar-white beaches of Miramar Beach and saw Rudolphs’ Girlfriend lounging in a beach chair. Candy Kane was a Florida Reindeer…by birth…and there were not many like her. She was an alligator hunter and smoked cigars and drank Bullett Rye Whiskey…straight…and all day long. ‘Hey Jane,’ said CK. ‘What are you good people doing here this close to Christmas Eve…this is Crunch Time…’ Jane asked, ‘Where is Rudy…Santa needs him…and Hobart is sorry for offending him.’ ‘Rudy and Ron and JB have been drinking wine at Wine World…all day…and solving the world’s problems,’ CK said. ‘Let’s take the mini-sleigh and fly over there to talk to Rudy,’ said Chet. In the blink of an eye…they were there. ‘Join us,’ Rudy called out as his nose glowed a brilliant red beacon… ‘Rudy…Santa needs you and Hobart is sorry for telling you to get out of the Toy Factory,’ said Jane. ‘I don’t know…Jane…I think Santa hired him to boss me around…and I have better things to do than to be insulted…I have my 401K…and early retirement is looking pretty…pretty…pretty…sweet, as Larry David of Curb Your Enthusiasm, would say,’ said a thick-tongued philosophical Rudy… ‘Think of the kids…Santa can not do this massive undertaking without you…Rudy,’ Chet implored. ‘Will there be the annual Christmas Party at the end of the Christmas Eve Trip…I enjoy that Party so very much said, Rudy. ‘This year there will not only be a party but a 25% Christmas bonus…and a subscription to the Jelly Of the Month Club’…said Billy B.

Rudy not only returned to the North Pole but was the hero of the reindeer for the 25% bonus…and the wonderful…Jelly…

Home is what we seek at Christmas Time. We look for the sights and sounds and smells and the sense of place and love that makes our hearts swell…with joy. We may seek the home that we were born in or raised in…or the place that made us feel most welcome in our wayfaring life… We all are strangers in a strange land.

We are seekers of home…our entire time on earth. When we look into the eyes of others…we are looking for a home… This year we will enjoy Christmas in as many ways as the number of us that celebrate Christmas Some of us will have a large elaborate dinner with family that we have not seen since last Christmas. Others will have an intimate dinner with a few close friends…others of us will have pizza and Coca Cola…and all of us will hopefully find Home…in the celebration.

Atheists and agnostics and Jews and Hindus and Muslims…will seek home during our worldwide holiday. Rest from the stress of our 2-year Pandemic…comfort from the supreme loss that many of us have endured…many who seek to comfort others all year long…desire to feel a sense of Home…for Christmas. We have stood at the bedside of a loved one who has been intubated…we have cried a river of tears for family and friends who have passed on…many of us suffer inside…while putting on a brave and festive face…

We need Home to invite us inside…to sit down by the roaring fireplace…and to pet the sleeping Boxer dog by the warm blaze…and to enjoy a cup of hot cocoa and listen to Bing Crosby sing Silent Night…and gently close our eyes and realize that we finally have arrived…Home…

Five days until Christmas. It is a lovely day in Little Egypt…with an appropriate temperature for two days before the beginning of winter. Yesterday it truly looked like the Christmas Season was in full array with a 30-minute wait at the Post Office and traffic abounding on every street and lane. Pastor Kerry spoke of his favorite Christmas television show, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and it is one of my favorites as well… I remember first seeing the program when it Premiered in 1965. I was 8 years old and enjoyed the show…as I loved the Peanuts characters…but I was mesmerized when Linus recited the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus… Peanuts was a popular cartoon…and yet the miracle of Christ’s birth was an integral part of the program.

Uncertainty barks at our heels. In the height of our revelries and at the zenith of our joy…change and reversals and danger…lurk. A new variant of covid is sweeping the globe. Christmas travel is upon us…fellowship with family and friends and loved ones…is here… Vaccinations and booster shots are required…and yet there is still danger… If we did not remember the past…we would believe that someone is out to get us. Life is challenging and seemingly never more so…than today. But…our ancestors experienced a lot of bad days. The devastation of the Great Depression…World War II…Korean War…Vietnam… LIfe is more of a roller coaster ride than a walk in the park. We are happiest when we focus on the well-being of others.

Station Eleven is a great book that is written by Emily St. John Mandel that has been made into a limited min-series on HBO/Max. It is a hopeful post-apocalyptical program about the beauty of life and a Shakesperean Theatre Troop that travels throughout the land…and brings Art and hope to the survivors of a pandemic. Indeed it may seem like the worst of times to have a show about a pandemic when we are in the midst of a pandemic…but it is a show of hope and faith and life…that is appropriate for our times.

So, we must get vaccinated and boosted and wear a face mask and if we do so…the devastation of our Pandemic will subside and life can return to normalcy…as we know it. Spells or incantations or political rhetoric will not stop covid…vaccination will…if we all partake…and stop providing a home for the Virus…