I love Christmas.
I love the carols.
I love the candlelight.
I love setting up the creche in my office.
And having the children see it and talk with me about it.
I love thinking about what gifts to give.
And, don’t even mind the shopping (most of the time).
And, the meaning of the season stands at the center of my faith.
Maybe it is heresy to say
But Christmas means more to me than Easter.
Incarnation more than resurrection.

All that serves as introduction to this.
Yesterday afternoon I spent a few minutes looping ribbon through a note card and then through a hole in a cardboard star. Written on the note card is a gift suggestion for a child whose family does not have the resources I do to buy gifts for my family. I thought of those children and those families yesterday as I looped ribbon through holes and tied a knot. I thought of the excitement of the children which, I am sure, matches the excitement of my children when they were young. And I thought about the parents…the Moms and the Dads…who long for and work so hard for something more for their children. Each knot became a prayer.

I know Christmas is about more than gifts.
But it is about wonder and excitement.
And, about dreams and possibilities beyond the reality of the present moment.
Sometimes we catch a glimpse of that in church.
And, sometimes on the village street.
And, sometimes in the eyes of a child.
Or in the dreams of a parent.