Today is Christmas Eve. For many it’s one of the slowest
days of the year. This is especially true for children. But I know, for many
adults, it is also a really slow day.
I remarked yesterday on my radio show the significance of
Christmas Eve. When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was a slow day for sure, but it
was also a day of anticipation. It’s the kind of thing you really can’t know or
think about till you get older, but when I reflect on it, Christmas Eve was
really the day we’d all been waiting on for the entire year.
I know, it’s not the first thing that comes to mind, but it
was, and many of our Christmas memories are tied into that one day. What I
remember with fondness isn’t so much what I would get for Christmas, but rather
the anticipation of what was to come. It’s kind of like, when you watch a scary
movie. The buildup to the big reveal as to whatever is supposed to be scary is
usually more memorable and thus more fulfilling than the actual reveal itself.
Christmas Eve is a chance for all of
us to take stock in the work that we’ve done in the month since Thanksgiving.
The entire month of December is filled with decorating, getting cookies made,
delivering presents, and shopping, as well as spending time with family and
friends at parties, or volunteering your time for worthy causes. The entire
month is a smorgasbord of activity that we can get lost in the commotion. It’s
nice, and frankly healthy to have a day to reflect on all that we’ve done in
the month past, take stock and enjoy it. Christmas Eve serves that purpose.
There’s a song that I’m quite fond of by the group
Blackmore’s Night. Entitled Christmas Eve, it’s about that exactly. It reflects
on how a child views Christmas Eve, but it also takes stock in all that has
transpired in the last year, and what has been building to the great finale.
And like all finales, it’s always somewhat underwhelming. But today, for one
day, we can revel in the anticipation of what is to come, and take it all in.
When I was growing up, some of my favorite memories
happened on Christmas Eve. Singing in church, or being in a church play. Going
home and having the traditional lasagna for Christmas dinner, and perhaps
watching a Christmas movie. Looking at the presents and wondering what tomorrow
would bring.
It is more so as I get older. I enjoy this day much more
than just about any other throughout the entire year. It is a day when anything
can happen, and a day when we can look back and bask in all we have done to get
to this point.
Simply put, it is my favorite day of the year. I hope it
will be an enjoyable one, and I hope that you will have an enjoyable Christmas,
wherever you happen to be today.
Merry Christmas!
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