Will You Conspire?

I am adamantly opposed to Christmas trees, lights, and carols before Thanksgiving.

However, because many start discussing family strategems for the NEXT holiday while gathered for this one, I am conceding and sharing this video, because it's a powerful invitation to reconsider Advent/ Christmas/ the coming of Christ.  I know: it's not always fun to buck traditions.  But it might be right to buck some traditions.  Think about how much of commercial Christmas is designed to make you feel worse if you don't consume enough, buy enough, or spend enough.  Consider.  Conspire.



Disclaimer: I find it very difficult to run against the grain even in my own family, where holidays aren't extravagant... but the giving is still generous, and it feels like rather uncertain territory to take the focus off the THINGS that we want/ give/ receive. So I'm just saying, I found this video inspiring. It makes me want to keep trying. Keep seeking. Start seeing in Christmas the world-changing, light-bringing event that it is.

Changing Season

Yesterday I looked around, and the scene was suddenly bare and brown.  The glowing orange trees along the driveway, whose color I had savored with each early evening sunset, were done. 

At that moment, it seemed profoundly similar to my "sudden" switch as I begin to plan for life on the west coast, now aiming to move with the first of the year.  How can a transition be sudden when you've had your eyes tracking it for almost a year?  (Why is it a mild shock to see trees bared for winter?)  Yet, realities like health insurance and housing have a way of making it real!

So, the seasons change in that mysterious methodical way.  The sun slants differently.  Life shifts gears.