twenty-three

It’s been a pretty weird start to the break here in Bellingham. We’ve had unseasonably cold weather. I walked out to get the mail today into close to a foot of snow. That’s pretty much unheard of in these parts. Barring some heat wave, we’ll have a White Christmas, which is just crazy.

I think the blizzard and isolation have been adding to a feeling of being “outside” of all the Christmas hub-bub this year. Maybe it’s been coupled with being a little more attentive (at least at the beginning) to the season of Advent, spending more time reflecting on the impending “coming” of Christ, rather than simply jumping into celebration mode come December 1 Thanksgiving Halloween. We did a pretty good job of getting the shopping and decorating over with early this year, so as to enjoy it (“savor the season”, as one friend puts it).

But something has felt different this year. In a good way. Kind of like I’m outside of Christmas. Outside of the hectic. Outside of the lights. Being holed up in the house for the past 5 days hasn’t hurt either. We’re pretty disconnected. The computer’s been off much more than normal. A lot more reading, movie watching, huddling in blankets, sipping of chai is taking place.

Maybe it’s healthy to be pushed out of the contemporary celebration of Christmas. Maybe it’s healthy to step outside of Christmas, as an act of expectation, but also as an act of denial. Denial, until the proper time. Refusal or shutting out to some of it. With a precarious balance being struck, finding a place to remember and expect in a proper way, without as many distractions. I hope someday that I can really honor the Advent season for all its depth, for all its significance, for Christ’s sake (literally).

As the snow gets softer outside, with hopes of getting out into the world more and more possible by the hour, this hermit is happy. Hopeful for Christ’s coming, only a few days off. Hopeful for a refreshed perspective on a holiday of such great significance. Time to love others and be loved. Time to remember the love we’ve all received. And a time to remember that Christ himself is truly outside of Christmas as well, coming again, yet not to a manger, but to a Kingdom.

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