Christmas Traditions

     Today, the day after Christmas, I settled down to write my Christmas Cards.  Yes, I know that Christmas is over.  Yes, I know that in our digital age it is perfectly acceptable to send an email...or a tweet...or a facebook whateveryoucallit.  But last year, somewhere around Dec 31, I got a phone call from one of my  relatives, who reprimanded me for not sending her a Christmas Card.  She reminded me that my mother ALWAYS sent Christmas cards (my mother passed away in Dec. many years ago and made sure her Christmas cards were completed early that year...many people got them after she had left us).  OUCH!!
     So this year, I actually  braved a trip to a shopping mall to be sure I had an ample supply of cards.  And I sweated out the line at the post office to get just the right Christmas stamps.   Was this adequete penance?  Well, almost but not quite.  You see, I have email addresses but I don't keep snail mail addresses.  So don't be suprised if you get an email from me seeking your address. Or maybe I'll just wish you Season's Greetings on facebook. 
     The point of all this is  traditions change. There probably was a time when people didn't send Christmas cards; in fact there probably was a time when people didn't celebrate Christmas.  And I am not my mother, in many many ways.  But people get attached to their traditions and you have to respect that, although within reason.  If you send me a Christmas Card with a return address on it chances are that I will send you a card...unless I lose the envelope, which is what happened this year with the particular relative's card who inspired this reflection in the first place.  Ouch again.
     When I find this relative's address (actually I admitted I lost it via electronic media, and  am awaiting a reply ) I will put it in a safe place.  And every year, as long as this person is with us, I will carefully pick out a nice card and send it to her--but it will be after Christmas day.  Now about that tradition that involves slaughtering a freshly caught goose, and slowly cooking it over an open fire all night--sorry, but we'll be having the preslaughtered preroasted version courtesy of Whole Foods.  That way, there will be more time available to enjoy the traditions that bring us together in peace and with joy.  Now isn't that what Chrisatmas traditions are supposed to be about?

The Feast of St Thomas

     Today is the feast of St Thomas.  You know the guy--would not believe in the resurrected Christ unless he could put his hands into the wounds, so Jesus made a special appearance to the disciples to give him that opportunity which he took and then he believed.  St Thomas has become the archtype for all of our doubts.  We don't usually think about him on the twenty first of December, he's more in our reality the first Sunday after Easter, which has become known as "Doubting Thomas Sunday" because we read about him that Sunday in the gospels and if we're lucky we hear a thought provoking sermon about doubt. But on the twenty first of December we're more likely to be wrapping our heads around the magic of Christmas--what other time of the year do we really believe that some fat guy in a red suit is gonna cram  himself down our chimney (even if we don't have a chimney) to deliver presents to us just because we've been nice?  Its not considered socially acceptable to have any doubts about that.  So maybe there's something a bit refreshing to celebrate the king of doubt in the midst of our holiday induced euphoria.
     I would not myself be thinking about St Thomas, or the whole concept of doubting, if I were not a member of St Thomas Church..  Since St Thomas is our patron saint, we celebrate his feast day (we actually celebrated it this past Saturday but that's good since it gave me a few days to think about all of my doubts).  It was a beautiful service, one of the few times we get to use the red frontal and vestments, and Father Justin gave a wonderful sermon about how our doubts form our ownership of our belief system.  St Thomas is a very fitting patron saint for us--it is a church where it is safe to express your doubts, and where Christ through each other continually meets you with just the right amount of  evidence to allow you to believe.  No one forces their beliefs on you.  Maybe that's what attracted me to the church of St Thomas.        
     An infusion of doubt is healthy every so often, even in a season of the year where we are expected to suspend all of our doubts.   Rock on, St Thomas!

Ero Cras, He Comes Tomorrow

      O Sapienta (wisdom), O Adonai (lord), O Radix Jesse (root of Jesse), O Clavis David (key of David), O Oriens (rising sun), O Rex Gentium (king of nations), O Emmanuel (God is with us). 

     The O Antiphons date back to the early days of the Christian Church, and serve to remind us in our day that even in the darkest depths of despair there is the light of hope.  The first letter of each antiphon going backwards spells Ero Cras, "he comes tomorrow".  Tomorrow being Christmas Day or any day that our deepest longing is fulfilled. 

     Generally speaking I am not a fan of the holiday season--it is the anniversary of some big losses for me; it is the darkest days of the year; it is cold and rainy weather; and it is stores filled with overstimulating muzak, glitz, and glitter.  But every year as I say the O Antiphons that last week before Christmas I have fond memories of those who are no longer with us; I try to savor the sunrises and sunsets (and this year I have a "happy light"); I bundle up when venturing out, and  I shop online whenever possible.  Every year by the time tomorrow/Christmas comes I am filled with wonder and delight, ready to look forward to the next tomorrow.

     Even though he is here today, he comes tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow.   Christmas is always tomorrow.  

It is Time.

The time has come to start a blog.  I have been encouraged by friends to start a blog for a number of years.  Never got around to it.  But today, in a very unusual way, the opportunity presented itself.  Hope I can live up to what I have read in others' blogs!