Tracking the Storm

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Author Unknown.

We are told that a body at rest will stay at rest, while a body in motion will stay in motion. One of the keys to maintaining a healthy body is to keep it moving, whether that means getting out and walking (or using the treadmill at the gym when the weather gets bad), or hauling and chopping wood. The nature of the movement and exercise is less important than the simply getting up and doing it.

In a month or so it occurs to me that Christmas will be here. I know, I know. No one wants to be reminded of the fact. We have only just gotten past Halloween, we haven’t even gotten our Thanksgiving bird, and the stores have long-since been stocking up for the big holiday season.

Normally I am a Christmas Crab. I have more in common with Ebenezer Scrooge (pre-conversion) or Henry F. Potter (It’s a Wonderful Life) than selfless George Bailey. I’m not a miser, exactly, but I prefer to close the gates, raise the draw bridge, and turn out the lights until after the holidays have come on gone. The holidays, in my mind, are like spiritual hurricanes that blow through wreaking all sorts of chaos and damage in their path.

Part of my attitude is a result of the season. The weather is wet and cold, the nights long and dark, and the world is more “me” oriented than usual. I know that for every seasonal greeting of love, joy, or peace that is expressed, there will be reports of mobs breaking down doors at the malls, shoppers tazing and pepper-spraying one another, drunks and addicts slaughtering friends and neighbors on the roads (or regaling us with their political/sports insights or opinions as we sit around feasting – hoping the night will end sooner than later).

As I said, normally I am a Christmas Crab, but not this year. I am approaching the season with eyes fully open, and mind fully alert. The world of violence and destruction, arguments and fights, drunkenness and greed is precisely the world we live in.

So, what can we do? What should we do? Is there anything we can do to put the “holy” back into the holy-day season that is bearing down on us as we speak?

First things first, we don’t need to panic, nor do we need to hunker down. We need to prepare. What needs to be done?

What do you do when you board a plane? You stow away your belongings. You put away anything that can become a missile in the event of an accident. The first thing I am stowing away for the holiday are my expectations. Expectations often become resentments (that take on a life of their own) when they are unfulfilled, so I will let life unfold and respond with as much grace and good humor as I can. I can’t control people or situations, but I can be kind, gentle, and graceful; so I will.

Secondly, I am not responsible for anyone else’s happiness. “The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet” (James Oppenheim). I will look for ways to convey my love this season in a manner that reveals what’s in my heart more than what’s in my wallet. Gifts will be the result of thoughtful, prayerful, and careful consideration. To be sure, Hickory Farms MAY be the answer to my prayer for someone, but let’s hope not! I can open my heart, so I think I will.

I believe that if many of us were to take those two steps alone this season (and starting now), we would be on track for a holier season, a lovelier season, a brighter, friendlier, and more peaceable season. It’s only two steps away, but that is something at least, so let’s get a move on in this, our valley! Shalom.