Magic Sets Today Apart from Rest of the Year

This is my favorite day of the year. It’s a day of magic.
Everything looks different today from any other day of the year. All the regular things like the street in front of our house, the gas stations on the corners, the stoplights and parking lots seem different and special somehow.
Those things don’t really look different, they aren’t even decorated for the holidays; they just seem different.
I’ve always felt this way on Christmas Eve, but my most magical memory was one Christmas Eve when I was about 7 or 8 years old.
I was in the bedroom that I shared with my sisters. We were supposed to be asleep, but we were too excited to sleep. Suddenly, my brother John, who was the oldest, ran into our room and said, “You better get to sleep. He’s coming. He won’t stop if you are still awake, and I just heard him over at the Sorensons (our neighbors).”
Without thinking of the risk, we all ran to the window, and a couple seconds later I saw Santa and his reindeer fly across our front lawn. And then just as quickly, I jumped back into bed.
It was probably the most exciting thing that ever happened to me. It was something that can happen only on a magical night such as this.
There are so many things to do to make Christmas a joyous occasion. The shopping is the most nerve wracking. Right now I feel like taking a vow never to enter another store.
Yet exchanging gifts is part of Christmas. It is important to remember in some way all those who have extended kindness to us throughout the year, to share some of our abundance with someone less blessed that ourselves and, of course, to do what we can to make this a bountiful holiday for our own families.
It is particularly important not to go overboard on that last one, but we always do.
I enjoy seeing how people deck their homes, churches and businesses. We decorate inside the house with poinsettias, evergreens, red bows and a tree covered with ornaments collected over the years. Hung on the fireplace is an assortment of Christmas stockings starting with the ones John and I bought in Germany for our first Christmas together and ending with the Baby’s First Christmas sock for Matthew.
Depending on the weather, we decorate the outside of the house with colored lights and wreaths. I always have more grandiose plans for decorating than ever get carried out.
We drive past homes that are elaborately decorated. I use the excuse that the kids enjoy seeing the lights and decorations, but I enjoy it as much and sometimes even more than they do.
The music of Christmas has the ability to immediately create a holiday mood, with the exception of “Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer,” which is ridiculous. I look forward to singing my favorites, “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Joy to the World” at the Christmas Eve children’s Mass.
The foods at all the holiday occasions are a sweet lover’s (which I am) dream come true. Sampling all the cookies I brought home from the cookie exchanges was my Christmas present for my tastebuds.
Do you suppose that Jesus had any idea when he was born in Bethlehem that so many generations after we’d make such elaborate preparations for the celebration of his birth?
I’m sure the Christ Child would be pleased to know that once all the presents are wrapped, the lights are strung, the cookies are baked, before the family is gathered and when the house is quiet, most of us take a moment to look outside, or maybe inside ourselves, and find the magic of “The First Noel.” That’s why I love Christmas.
December 24, 1986