It's Christmas, So I Wonder Where It Is...

I'm sitting at the "dining room" table since it's roughly in that part of the Dining/Living/Family/Computer Room, a couple of hours before dawn. It's just me, a steaming cup of The Elixir of Knowledge, and the Christmas Tree huddled in the corner just four feet away.

Nice tree. Not all that memorable, but nice. Get's the job done. Like that kid at McDonald's who is fairly articulate, can count change without moving lips, and gets the order right. A pleasant event but not memorable.

A swig of The Elixir articulates the thought. Christmas no longer packs that wallop of giddy anticipation. Not like those Christmases spent with the Sears Toy Catalogue that tethered the three of us kids to the floor all morning. Long hours turning pages, ohhhhing and awwwwwing at the brilliant pictures, and never fixating on the small, black print of the prices.

Since two out of the three kids were sisters, we'd linger FOREVER on the doll pages, the doll house pages, and the Easy-Bake "light bulb" ovens.  Then we'd absolutely ZIP through the toy guns, the toy tools, and all the really good stuff. But there were bikes, sleds, and toy horses we'd study and dream on together, so it all worked out.

Another deep pull of the Elixir - and another epiphany.

I wonder where the wonder went? That amazing awe. Where’s all that barely suppressed excitement that was finally unleashed with squeals of joy as flying shreds of wrapping paper revealed  - The GIFT!.

When did I start fixating on the small black print and ignoring all those brilliant pictures?

I stand up and stretch. My eyes sweep across the top of the piano where the Nativity Set resides. And in the center of the Set, huddled between a kneeling Mary and Joseph, is The Gift.

For years I've read and memorized all of those small black words.  Words I read with the joyless determination of a junior accountant doing an annual audit. Words that are important, words that frame what I seem to be missing. What I’ve forgotten.

I forgot the big beautiful picture of The One that bursts open every day with sunrise and tucks me in with the starlit night. I want to see Christmas through "kids-eyes" again.  I need to sit cross-legged on the floor, next to The Most Precious Gift as He turns the pages of Life, and laugh in amazement as He smiles and points to a special gift, then another, and another...

Wow.

I head for the kitchen for a refill of The Elixir when it hits me.

Wait 'til we all get to His place and start unwrapping THOSE gifts - now that'll be a Christmas, eh?