Season of Peace, or Day of Peace?

Quote of the day:
“All I mean by truth is the path I have to travel.”
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

This year we are doing Christmas a bit differently. We have skipped most of “pre-Christmas.”

We have done no decorating, bought no presents, put up no tree, sent no cards. Instead, we have spent two weeks at a slow pace: reading, walking, talking and watching the ocean. We have done no preparation, and we don’t seem to have any anxiety about it.

At the end of these two weeks, just before Christmas, we will go out, buy a tree and a few presents and come home to enjoy a few hours decorating and watching the cats climb the tree. We will have a nice meal and open presents on Christmas Day and send out New Years greetings to our friends and family later.

This can be a meaningful time of year to visit with friends and family, and enjoy some good food and time off from work. But often our expectations get in the way. We wind up expecting so much--from ourselves, mostly--that the season is defined by stress grinding us for weeks, with the hope of relief on December 25th.

What should this season be about?