Keeping Christmas well - Day 5

Pay it forward.

It was Christmas 1983. Dad had passed away from cancer five months previously. Our little family had also gone through a crisis that changed the course of our lives (for the better as it turns out, although we didn't know it at the time) and we didn't have very much money. I was kind of dreading Christmas because dad wouldn't be there and because we didn't have hardly any money to buy our little girls a few gifts.
Then two wonderful things happened. Someone played sub-for-Santa and left a box of food and a few toys on our doorstep. That gesture meant so much to us. We never knew who did it, but we appreciated their generosity and awareness in knowing that we were struggling.
The second thing that happened is that my sister Janet and her husband Dave came to town to visit. They took us to dinner at Marie Calendars and we enjoyed clam chowder and corn bread. How can I remember a dinner menu from almost 30 years ago? It's because of what happened next and the fact that what happened next is seared into my memory.
They gave us an envelope and told us to open it when we got home. When we did open it, we found a $100 dollar bill inside. We cried for joy! That $100 could as well have been $1000 because it meant so much to us. It meant we could buy our little girls a few gifts and that helped raise our spirits in ways you can't even imagine.
We went shopping and got the little dollies pictured below. We bought some paint and refurbished a doll cupboard that my dad had made years previously. We bought a few little dishes for the cupboard and we were set for Christmas!
We have tried to pay it forward over the years and it's been a pleasure to do so. That kind gesture from a beloved sister and her husband still warms my heart. They did not have a lot themselves and they had their own little children to provide for, but they gave to us nonetheless. That is the true spirit of Christmas.

Keeping Christmas well - Day 4

What would Christmas be without Christmas music? How could we keep Christmas well if we couldn't listen to the spiritually moving sounds of Handel's Messiah or the sacred Christmas hymns that speak of Christ's birth sung with faith and conviction? I'm often moved to tears listening to these stirring pieces.
Attending Christmas concerts is a very important part of our Christmas traditions. It just wouldn't seem like Christmas if we couldn't attended the annual Messiah sing along at Abravanel Hall with the Utah Symphony, or attend the BYU Celebration of Christmas with the choruses and philharmonic orchestra. We've attended the Kurt Bestor concert for many years. Last night we got to hear David Lanz perform at the Covey center and we enjoyed his special sound and arrangements on the piano. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will put on their annual concert in a couple of weeks and this year David Archuleta will be the guest performer. Listening to Christmas music on Pandora at work, on Sirus XM in the car or enjoying our collection of CDs at home is so enjoyable to me. I love the spiritual, the contemporary and even the fun and silly pieces.

There is so much music out there to enjoy! Sacred Christmas music lifts the spirits and enlarges the soul. I love to sing Christmas carols and to be exposed to some new pieces.



This piece that was new to me. It's called Nativity Carol by John Rutter. We heard it at BYU yesterday and then I found this excellent performance of the same song on You Tube by the King's College Choir at Cambridge. Enjoy!

Keeping Christmas well - Day 3

I've admired the efforts of the many giving people who plan and coordinate the annual Festival of Trees that takes place in Salt Lake City every year. Thousands of people donate their time, finances and talents to make Christmas decorations and trees to sell with all the proceeds going to the Primary Children's medical center. I was a visiting teacher to a woman who went every year to just help set everything up, wrap the trees once they were sold and then deliver them to the people or businesses who bought the trees. She wasn't a young woman and it took considerable time, energy and skill to help. She said that is was her special way to give back to others at Christmas time. She served with a smile on her face even if her back was aching.
This year some of our good friends lost their little four year old grandson to a brain tumor just a couple of weeks ago. This news clip was done on little Rex and their family, telling their story and of the goodness of people who know how to keep Christmas well. His daddy wrote this blog documenting their journey over the last eight months of his illness. It is filled with faith, hope and love, even when facing the worst possible nightmare. I admire the strength and courage of people who don't lose hope and who move forward with faith.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Keeping Christmas well - Day 2

At the top of my list of people who knew how to keep Christmas well is my Dad. He and Mother were able to create Christmas magic that I don't think I have been able to completely replicate in our home. He grew up in a humble home. The emphasis at Christmas time was on some special foods, family games and interaction, a small tree and a few gifts. He brought those Christmas values into his own family and added his own special brand of mystery and anticipation as Christmas grew closer each year. Christmas was a highly anticipated event because they made it so special and fun. They put their whole hearts into the careful preparation of the gift giving, the holiday meals and activities.
I remember so well sitting by the large picture windows of our home in Rupert watching for Mom and Dad to come back from Christmas shopping. If they ever had to "run to town" and get a few things or go grocery shopping, many of us kids got to hop into the car and tag along. But not with Christmas shopping. They went by themselves and we knew that special surprises were surely to result from their shopping adventures. I would often listen to the old Christmas records of Nat King Cole, Sing along with Mitch Miller, Julie Andrews and of course the Mormon Tabernacle choir while waiting for them to return. I would try and sneak a peak when they returned and see what they had in the truck, but they were careful and crafty and they protected their secrets well. The anticipation and excitement would just build and build.
Since Dad was a master carpenter, he made many of the gifts he gave us children himself. A rocking horse, a little dish cupboard, baby cradles and such. Mom was an expert seamstress who would actually sew us doll clothes, make us beautiful Christmas dresses and sew whatever else she set her mind to. I loved receiving those home-made gifts.
I remember going into town to pick out the fresh Christmas tree at the little lot behind a small grocery store, not far from our church. For years the fresh tree was set up in the living room. A few years later they began to get a "flocked" Christmas tree that was sprayed with white fake snow that gave it a special ambiance and formality. As the years went by, we would have a color coordinated fancy tree in the living room and a smaller less formal tree in the family room. I can picture many of the ornaments we used to decorate those trees. Remember those Styrofoam balls with macaroni glued to them that were stray painted gold? Classic!
My Mom was an amazing cook. She would prepare a seven course meal and serve it on Christmas eve. Since we would often leave later on Christmas day to travel to Logan/Clarkston to visit the grandparents, she decided to cook her big meal on Christmas eve. And a lovely meal it was, complete with ALL the trimmings. We were expected to come to the meal dress in our Sunday best. A meal that took all day to cook deserved some respect. We would eat on her best china with our best crystal and silverware. It was a classy meal.
Afterward, we would have a Christmas program. Everyone in the family was expected to participate and do something on the program. We could play the piano, read a story, tell a poem, etc. There weren't any singing solos performed since that wasn't our forte, but we enjoyed singing some Christmas carols together and to finish the program, Dad would read the Christmas story out of the Bible.
After the program it was time to get to bed. Santa would be coming and we had to be to sleep so that he could visit our home. Many years there would be a loud knock at the door to let us know that Santa was in our neighborhood and that we'd better get to bed. Some years we could hear the reindeer or see a sparkler on the lawn to show that he was nearby.
Then it was time to get to bed and just lay awake, too excited to sleep. The anticipation was terrible! I'd stay away for hours and hours, or wake up and look at the clock. I'd listen carefully for any unusual noises and have my heart pounding with anticipation!
Finally, early in the morning, around 6:30 or 7:00 am, we would hear the magic words from our Dad - "Good gall, he's been here!!!" The Christmas tree lights would be plugged in and we would run into the room to see our stockings sitting in a chair or on the couch by a pile of gifts from Santa. It was so exciting! As I sit here at a computer all these years later, I can remember those emotions with such clarity!
We would look at our gifts, dump out our stockings and scream and jump for joy! I do believe that this scene brought a lot of happiness and joy to my parents. They would sit (probably exhausted) and watch their seven kids enjoy themselves. As I think of what they did and how they did it, I marvel at their ability to create such magic at Christmas! I'm so grateful to them both. They didn't have a ton of money, but they were so ingenious with what they did have and so generous and thoughtful.
We would then open the wrapped gifts under the tree. We drew names among the children and I remember making many of the gifts I gave my brothers and sisters over the years. I'd try and make something special that I hoped they would enjoy. I'd also made our parents a gift or I would buy some small gift to give to them. I always enjoyed giving them a gift and seeing their faces when they opened it.
My dad had an old movie camera and he would record (without sound) these Christmas morning extravaganzas! We have those movies on DVD now and they are cherished recordings of special memories.
I salute my parents! They truly knew how to keep Christmas well and I love them for it!

Keeping Christmas well - Day 1

“….and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”

I love this closing to Dicken's Christmas Carol. We attend the play almost every year at our local Hale Theater, and it is always enjoyable to be reminded that generosity and service are some of the reasons for the holiday season.
Sometimes for me it can feel like I have one foot in the holy – the true reasons and meaning of this season, and the other foot deeply and busily emerged in the preparations, decorations, baking, shopping, and wrapping. What I want to try to do this year is not see these as separate things but pull all the seemingly busy work into the holy – prepare with joy; decorate with gladness; bake and shop with the true intention of making my friends and family happy; wrap and prepare with a peaceful heart intent on preparing myself too to celebrate the birth of Christ.

The ghost of Christmas past will visit my blog and share some examples of keeping Christmas well throughout the month.

This interesting read about how A Christmas Carol influenced Christmas traditions is from Wiki:

Legacy

Whilst the phrase 'Merry Christmas' was popularized following the appearance of the story,^[48] and the name 'Scrooge' and exclamation 'Bah! Humbug!' have entered the English language,^[49] Ruth Glancy argues the book's singular achievement is the powerful influence it has exerted upon its readers. In the spring of 1844, The Gentleman's Magazine attributed a sudden burst of charitable giving in Britain to Dickens' novella; in 1874, Robert Louis Stevenson waxed enthusiastic after reading Dickens' Christmas books and vowed to give generously; and Thomas Carlyle expressed a generous hospitality by staging two Christmas dinners after reading the book.^[50] In America, a Mr. Fairbanks attended a reading on Christmas Eve in Boston, Massachusetts in 1867, and was so moved he closed his factory on Christmas Day and sent every employee a turkey.^[27] In the early years of the 20th century, the Queen of Norway sent gifts to London's crippled children signed "With Tiny Tim's Love"; Sir Squire Bancroft raised £20,000 for the poor by reading the tale aloud publicly; and Captain Corbett-Smith read the tale to the troops in the trenches of World War I.^[51]
According to historian Ronald Hutton, the current state of observance of Christmas is largely the result of a mid-Victorian revival of the holiday spearheaded by A Christmas Carol. Hutton argues that Dickens sought to construct Christmas as a family-centered festival of generosity, in contrast to the community-based and church-centered observations, the observance of which had dwindled during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.^[52] In superimposing his secular vision of the holiday, Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today in Western culture, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of spirit.^[53]