Christmas Fun

Part of the fun of Christmas is decorating. Putting lights on the trees. Lights on the windows. Lights on the eaves. Lights in the yard. And then there are the bulbs and ornaments, garland, glittering icicles, stars, angels, fake snow, giant Santas, reindeer, Nativities and an unlimited supply of homemade things. It is fun to not only decorate, but to go look at what others have done.

We just got home from an eleven mile drive - and we never left town. Well, we did go to the neighboring town, but as the two meld so seamlessly it seems like one town. Anyway, we drove eleven miles, but we were never more than three miles from home. A waste of fuel? Yeah. I suppose. No wonder we're poor, huh? So what? I love seeing what other people have done.

There is one property, just over a mile from us, in which the entire property has been done up. Dozens of Christmas figures decorate the lawn, the house and fill even the back yard. It inspires a belief in magic which is hard to describe. Lights of every color adorn Santas, snowmen, a Nativity, candles, Disney Characters, stars and the house and fence. There are three or four others which are nearly as magnificent. A couple of places are dark this year which, in the past, had been done up well. I do not know if the darkness is due to tragedy or if the previous decorators just moved away.

Traveling about to look at lights is an annual tradition for me. I remember Daddy driving us a lot more than eleven miles just to get to the decorations. There was one area, I think it was some place in St. Paul, where the entire block was done up like a Disney Parade. It took almost an hour to view it because we had to get in line. And once in line, you were locked in place. This street had a lot of music and animation. I don't know exactly where it was, but I have never seen anything like it since. Just on YouTube. But not live.

There is a house not too far from us which we did not visit this year. I call it the Castle House, because it is monstrous. I'm certain it has to go for at least a million dollars (if one could sell a house in these times). Every line on the house has been outlined with lights, and since the house rests on the top of a hill overlooking a lake it can be seen from over a mile away. It's about ten miles from here, so we didn't go this year.

There is a security in seeing lights on other houses. Particularly so since we do not have lights on our house or in our yard. We have the tree, standing in a corner near our front window. A string of lights frames the window. Another frames the glass surrounding the front door. We have a Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, but they are not out this year. Tigger's cord shorted out a few years ago. I suspect Pooh's has, too. In any case, they are not out.

Electric lights, bulbs, garland and what have you have nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas. The real meaning is God taking on human form to show us he really does understand what it is like to live on earth. So what that he probably wasn't born in December. That's not the point. That we include him in our celebrations is. It doesn't take much. He hears our thoughts better than we hear each others' voices. And I very much doubt he minds it that we decorate with lights and such. He probably is not offended that we play make-believe. After all, make-believe is a form of creation, and since we are in His image, it is only natural we imagine.

Christmas is a fun time, whether we include Jesus or not. We don't have to. That's the wonderful thing about God. He lets us play as we will. But if the thought should strike you this year, tell him thanks for the lights and presents and other things you enjoy about Christmas.

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas. Don't get hung up and crabby when things don't go as planned. That's part of the magic of Christmas. If you can laugh at the muck ups now, they will be all the more fun to recall later. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas!