indulgence in holiday sentiments
Christmas is tradition, but we all know that. My favorite is walking through Acadian Village. Every year I am reminded how much I love the chapel there. I look forward to seeing the familiar light displays, and to seeing what is new. And of course, we always leave - Mom, Collin, and I - saying that next year we’ll bring our boyfriend/girlfriend along. Almost part of the tradition now. But traditions like this are what I look forward to sharing with he who is yet to be discovered.
Christmas is hope, it is joy, it is nostalgia and comfort. I still believe in Santa - why not? he does exist - and every year I am still ecstatic to see what he’s left me. Such joy is my reward for keeping the Nothing away and for always hearing that sweet sound of the first gift of Christmas.
Christmas is simplicity. God in his Heaven and all right with the world, you know the drill. Turtlenecks and frosty breath, hot chocolate and egg nog, street lights become festive, an excuse to see friends, baking, giving, making people happy… Winter is my favorite season, so I guess it’s no wonder Christmas is my favorite time of year. It means so many things, holds so many possibilities. I wonder if it’s something about warmth and all its connotations defying a cold world. Then again, it might just be the way evergreens look in the snow, or the excitement of finding the perfect gift. Maybe it’s not so simple after all.
And so, my musings over, for the moment, I’ll leave you with some thoughts of others, and a fond farewell.
Through the years, we all will be together,
If the Fates allow;
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough;
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now…
Yeah, that song pretty much sums it up.
This is Starshine,
signing off.
A goose never voted for an early Christmas. - Irish saying
A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. - Garrison Keillor
As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is. - Eric Sevareid
As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December’s bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth the aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same. - Donald E. Westlake
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. - Hamilton Wright Mabie
Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. - Augusta E. Rundell
Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. - Oren Arnold
Christmas has lost its meaning for us because we have lost the spirit of expectancy. We cannot prepare for an observance. We must prepare for an experience. - Handel H. Brown
Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves. - Eric Sevareid
Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. - Charles Schultz
Christmas is for children. But it is for grownups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts. - Lenora Mattingly Weber
Christmas is the keeping-place for memories of our innocence. - Joan Mills
Christmas renews our youth by stirring our wonder. The capacity for wonder has been called our most pregnant human faculty, for in it are born our art, our science, our religion. - Ralph Sockman
Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given - when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes. - Joan Winmill Brown
Christmas, in its final essence, is for grown people who have forgotten what children know. Christmas is for whoever is old enough to have denied the unquenchable spirit of man. - Margaret Cousins
Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They’re never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal. - Lenore Hershey
Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age. - Carrie Latet
Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! - Charles Dickens
He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. - Roy L. Smith
Heap on the wood! - the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.
- Sir Walter Scott
I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness. - Julia Peterkin
I love the Christmas-tide, and yet,
I notice this, each year I live;
I always like the gifts I get,
But how I love the gifts I give!
- Carolyn Wells
I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: ‘Why this is Christmas Day?’ - Stannard Baker
I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. - Charles Dickens
I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.- Harlan Miller
Jennifer Bofinger, media spokeswoman for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said despite the shabby treatment of deer in general, her organization has not received any complaints about how Santa Claus treats his reindeer. - L.A. Times
Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen. - unknown, attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby
‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.’ - Dr. Seuss
My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? - Bob Hope
Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. - Larry Wilde
Nothing’s as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas. - Kin Hubbard
Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money. - unknown
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly. - Andy Rooney
Probably the reason we all go haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don’t quite know how to put our love into words. - Harlan Miller
Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live. - Dennis Miller
Some businessmen are saying this could be the greatest Christmas ever. I always thought that the first one was. - Art Fettig
The earth has grown old with its burden of care
But at Christmas it always is young,
The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair
And its soul full of music breaks the air,
When the song of angels is sung.
- Philips Brooks
The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others’ burdens, easing other’s loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas. - W.C. Jones
There are no strangers on Christmas Eve.
There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmastime. Mature, responsible grown men wear neckties made of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw egg yolks and cottage cheese in them. - P.J. O’Rourke
There was the little boy who approached Santa in a department store with a long list of requests. He wanted a bicycle and a sled, a chemical set, a cowboy suit, a set of trains, a baseball glove and roller skates. ‘That’s a pretty long list.’ Santa said sternly. ‘I’ll have to check in my book and see if you were a good boy.’ ‘No, no,’ the youngster said quickly. ‘Never mind checking. I’ll just take the roller skates.’
There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. - Erma Bombeck
Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive. - Robert Lynd
Christmas is hope, it is joy, it is nostalgia and comfort. I still believe in Santa - why not? he does exist - and every year I am still ecstatic to see what he’s left me. Such joy is my reward for keeping the Nothing away and for always hearing that sweet sound of the first gift of Christmas.
Christmas is simplicity. God in his Heaven and all right with the world, you know the drill. Turtlenecks and frosty breath, hot chocolate and egg nog, street lights become festive, an excuse to see friends, baking, giving, making people happy… Winter is my favorite season, so I guess it’s no wonder Christmas is my favorite time of year. It means so many things, holds so many possibilities. I wonder if it’s something about warmth and all its connotations defying a cold world. Then again, it might just be the way evergreens look in the snow, or the excitement of finding the perfect gift. Maybe it’s not so simple after all.
And so, my musings over, for the moment, I’ll leave you with some thoughts of others, and a fond farewell.
Through the years, we all will be together,
If the Fates allow;
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough;
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now…
Yeah, that song pretty much sums it up.
This is Starshine,
signing off.
A goose never voted for an early Christmas. - Irish saying
A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. - Garrison Keillor
As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is. - Eric Sevareid
As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December’s bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth the aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same. - Donald E. Westlake
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. - Hamilton Wright Mabie
Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. - Augusta E. Rundell
Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. - Oren Arnold
Christmas has lost its meaning for us because we have lost the spirit of expectancy. We cannot prepare for an observance. We must prepare for an experience. - Handel H. Brown
Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves. - Eric Sevareid
Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. - Charles Schultz
Christmas is for children. But it is for grownups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts. - Lenora Mattingly Weber
Christmas is the keeping-place for memories of our innocence. - Joan Mills
Christmas renews our youth by stirring our wonder. The capacity for wonder has been called our most pregnant human faculty, for in it are born our art, our science, our religion. - Ralph Sockman
Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given - when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes. - Joan Winmill Brown
Christmas, in its final essence, is for grown people who have forgotten what children know. Christmas is for whoever is old enough to have denied the unquenchable spirit of man. - Margaret Cousins
Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They’re never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal. - Lenore Hershey
Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age. - Carrie Latet
Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! - Charles Dickens
He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. - Roy L. Smith
Heap on the wood! - the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.
- Sir Walter Scott
I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness. - Julia Peterkin
I love the Christmas-tide, and yet,
I notice this, each year I live;
I always like the gifts I get,
But how I love the gifts I give!
- Carolyn Wells
I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: ‘Why this is Christmas Day?’ - Stannard Baker
I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. - Charles Dickens
I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.- Harlan Miller
Jennifer Bofinger, media spokeswoman for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said despite the shabby treatment of deer in general, her organization has not received any complaints about how Santa Claus treats his reindeer. - L.A. Times
Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen. - unknown, attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby
‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.’ - Dr. Seuss
My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? - Bob Hope
Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. - Larry Wilde
Nothing’s as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas. - Kin Hubbard
Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money. - unknown
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly. - Andy Rooney
Probably the reason we all go haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don’t quite know how to put our love into words. - Harlan Miller
Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live. - Dennis Miller
Some businessmen are saying this could be the greatest Christmas ever. I always thought that the first one was. - Art Fettig
The earth has grown old with its burden of care
But at Christmas it always is young,
The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair
And its soul full of music breaks the air,
When the song of angels is sung.
- Philips Brooks
The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others’ burdens, easing other’s loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas. - W.C. Jones
There are no strangers on Christmas Eve.
There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmastime. Mature, responsible grown men wear neckties made of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw egg yolks and cottage cheese in them. - P.J. O’Rourke
There was the little boy who approached Santa in a department store with a long list of requests. He wanted a bicycle and a sled, a chemical set, a cowboy suit, a set of trains, a baseball glove and roller skates. ‘That’s a pretty long list.’ Santa said sternly. ‘I’ll have to check in my book and see if you were a good boy.’ ‘No, no,’ the youngster said quickly. ‘Never mind checking. I’ll just take the roller skates.’
There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. - Erma Bombeck
Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive. - Robert Lynd