There’s Christmas, and there’s Christmas. And then there’s Christmas.
December 16, 2022, 9:40 am
There’s 
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There’s the Christmas that’s about getting the newest iphone or drone for a loved one, spending hours trying to find the perfect gift for the person who has everything—including closets absolutely overflowing with gifts from Christmases past.
It’s about making the rounds of the Christmas parties and drinking more alcohol in a month than during the rest of the year. (Well, unless you count the Superbowl party and the Grey Cup party, oh and May Long, and that fishing trip with the guys, and the August long at the lake. Oh, and that week in Cuba. Oh, and that week in Mexico, too. It was all inclusive, after all.)
This Christmas has its upside—especially if you’re a store owner or own shares in Amazon—and its downside, which becomes evident when the credit card statement arrives in January.
Then there’s the Christmas whose patron saint is Charles Dickens. The Christmas that’s about squeezing the entire family onto the couch to watch A Christmas Carol, or Elf, or Christmas Vacation, or It’s a Wonderful Life if you’re older or The Grinch or Arthur Christmas if you’re younger, for the seventy-seventh time, the family together, warm and cozy, while the fire crackles in the other room, and while the lights on the Christmas tree provide a warm glow throughout the house.
The Christmas that’s about taking time off from our hectic schedules and really enjoying the company of friends and family, maybe going snowmobiling or cross-country skiing or skating on the outdoor rink or skate path. The Christmas that wouldn’t be complete without turkey and stuffing, stockings and a tree, tinsel and lights. An old-fashioned Christmas.
This Christmas gives you a warm feeling inside—and a craving for rye and coke or egg nog with spiced rum—just thinking about it. There are a lot of wonderful things about this Christmas, not least of which is an increased focus on family and friends, which some of us do not focus on nearly enough because we are so busy with our work and our organizations and our volunteering and our hobbies and so much more through the rest of the year.
This Christmas is comfortable like an old sweater because it’s always been the same. It’s the reason some people still go to church at Christmas even if not through the rest of the year, because those Christmas traditions have to be preserved, even those Christmas songs that we have on our play list year in and year out.
And then there’s Christmas.
You know. The one that’s sometimes forgotten about.
The one about the infinite possibilities in the birth of one small child who can change the entire world.
The one about a miracle that unites Heaven and Earth.
The spirit of this Christmas is reflected in the gifts purchased anonymously for needy families through programs like Angels Anonymous and Caring Communities, in the food bank hampers distributed locally by volunteers, in donations to Diana Austin’s Kids in Ghana project, in shoeboxes of small but heartfelt gifts that flow from here to developing countries through Operation Christmas Child, in gifts left anonymously on the steps of a family of newcomers, in the change dropped in a Salvation Army Christmas kettle in the city, and in unsure, wavering voices singing ancient carols in small country churches.
Because the spirit of this Christmas is about loving, living, sharing, and celebrating.
About the birth of bright hope in a dark world, and within ourselves.
About the confidence that a tiny spark of divine light, a tiny flame, can shine through infinite darkness.
As you take time out to celebrate this special time of year—however you choose to celebrate—here’s hoping you have a very merry and meaningful Christmas.
This editorial was written by Kevin Weedmark
