Catching the Spirit

It's now starting to dawn on me that we really won't be home for Christmas. This morning I kept thinking about not being present on Christmas Eve to eat fondue, read Luke II, and listen to Mannheim Steamroller's Silent Night by the white twinkle lights of mom's tree. I think I'm OK with missing all of that, but what I'm really concerned about is a no-show from the fire department. If I'm not there, who will light the fire place without first checking to see that the flue is properly sealed shut with snow and ice? What would Christmas be if we weren't smoked out of the house? It's tradition.
This year we didn't bother putting up a tree or stockings or Christmas-y decor of any kind knowing we wouldn't be home to enjoy it. Perhaps for that reason it's been more difficult than usual for me to catch the Spirit of Christmas. Usually I catch it two seconds after I've eaten my last bite of leftover turkey. However, we took our church youth group to the annual Nativity in the Glen which is jointly sponsored by the First Baptist Church, Wasatch Presbyterian Church, St. Ambrose and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Churches, and the LDS Bonneville Stake. Hundreds of people come to walk through Bethlehem and see the live nativity equipped with animals, yes, even a camel. It's quite the production. That night I walked out of the glen feeling more Christmas joy than you could ever stuff down a chimney. It's not something you can touch (like a camel) or wrap (with double-sided tape) or check from a list (even twice). It's something that sparks you from the inside where it can be yours forever. It's true indeed, that Christmas is more about the why than the where and what.
XOXO