Christmas 2014

15 December 2014
Vienna, Virginia

Hello Dear Friend

Christmas season always causes within me the urge to write. In a former life I wouldn't have thought of it. I was always depressed and self-absorbed. The older I get the more I can't be around  people who are what I used to be like. Depression is a contagious disease that I need to steer clear of. And negativity too. I once heard a man tell me that he was wasn't happy that his grandchildren were coming over to stay for a whole weekend. That one statement told me everything I needed to know about him.  I didn't want to know anything else about his life. Yeah. I can be highly critical and judgmental of other people. I listened to his whining and thought about all those who would love to have grandchildren, or in my own case, not having the geographical ability to see my grand daughter as much as I'd like. I'm one of the lucky ones. God has been good to me. Should I squander away the good things in life He's gifted me? It's better for my mental  and spiritual health that I stay away from depression and negativism. Christmas has always been a time for me to think about these things. Summer's gone. The harvest is over. The cold gloom of winter sinks in and then deepens until the ground thaws again in the Spring. We're fortunate here in Virginia. It comes early and stays late. Christmas is the time of the great turning and the shortened days. I remember one Christmas when my son was about two or three years old. The room was warm, the tree was lit and I rocked him to sleep in a rocker we still have. Christmas music was playing on the old WGMS fm. station. Not too many Christmas days are that memorable; or held for me the contemplative possibilities of that moment to hold my son and think about the Catholic Christmas Story. Basically, at the heart of the matter, I was feeling the deepest human meaning of being a father to my child and a husband to my spouse. Basically, I was feeling human!

We've had many conversations over this past year about the two of us and where we're headed as the great turning of  the year approaches. We can continue - in Communion; and isn't that the best news? It's a secret between us, you and I, because we have no idea where all those 'others' are with their choices of religious profession. And that's OK. It's the foundation of living in a free society. The joy of knowing you is not having any secrets about where we both are with our commitment to the Eucharist as Catholics. That's my ultimate Christmas gift for such a special friend as yourself - "When we eat this Bread and Take this Cup" we promise over and over that friendships are more precious than going down that lonely path of solitude. As long as we're friends I don't ever have to chose that path. My own promise of the Eucharist is that I don't ever have to face loneliness again. "When we eat this Bread" I'll be quietly wishing you a Merry Christmas.