The meaning of Christmas

 

[Image credit: Beachinaball]

Christmas, for some, is just another day marking time on the calendar.  For others, the main focus is steeped in a religious celebration with its myriad traditions.  The word Christmas may denote hope, second chances, thankfulness, time with loved ones.  Or it may mean shopping malls, long lines, Santa Claus and all the other holiday trappings.  For me, Christmastime signifies several things.  It takes me to the end of another year of dreams dreamed — some fulfilled, more still hanging in the balance.  It reminds me of a halcyon time in my childhood that my mother was so much a part of yet absent the past four Christmases.  And there’s a hole in my heart that can only be filled with family and friends who reside further than I can drive in a day.  But I also look forward with expectation to what the New Year will bring.  And I’m grateful every day for the good news and the continued promise of Someday.

What does Christmas mean to you?

Discovering Easter in every day

[Image credit: Jeroen van Oostrom]

Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life.
~ S.D. Gordon

For some, Easter is a religious holiday, dressing up in new finery.  For others, it means family gatherings and egg hunts, baskets brimming with chocolates and jelly beans, or an all-you-can-eat brunch after church.  In my home, it’s a little bit of everything.  For me, personally, it’s mostly about what S.D. Gordon talks about in the above quote: new life.  Every day we have the opportunity to celebrate this concept, because each morning that we’re afforded the rare opportunity to open our eyes to the risen sun, we have a chance to go after our chocolate-covered or caramel-coated dreams and be the person we were meant to be.  Yes, sometimes there’s a bad egg in the bunch.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate something as simple as the beauty of another new day to love and be loved — to make a difference in someone else’s life.  Let’s start by having a Happy Easter and go from there.

What is your most memorable Easter tradition?