Christmas present

Sunday afternoon I spent a relaxed two hours listening to a reading of "A Christmas Carol" in front of a fire in our church's Parker Hall. This is an annual tradition.

Dan Fenn, a member of our congregation, reads the story, the fire roars, and cookies and cider are consumed part way through the two hours. Time stood still, or crawled very slowly, as I listened to Dicken's story. I imagined what Christmas was like for the characters in the story.

I must admit that my mind occasionally wandered during the two hours and to-dos entered my mind but just like in yoga or meditation, I kept bringing my attention back to the story. There were some there, who were hearing Dan read it for the first time, and there were others, two of his offspring were there, who have heard it every Christmas Eve of their lives either read by Dan, Dan's father, or Dan's grandfather.

I cherish the traditions that my family has like this and I cherish the opportunity to spend 2 hours listening to an old story and sliding peacefully into this season of lights and miracles and traditions and family.

It is a challenge to live in the present in this season of high expectations for a perfect holiday created by Walmart or Kohl's advertising. For those two hours, for the most part, I was present with the story. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad