Finding Christmas

Yes, Virginia, there was a Scrooge, but grouchy old Ebenezer finally dropped the bah humbug routine and got with the holiday mood, even though it did take a ghostly triptych for him to do so. Nowadays, the holidays still inspire a fair amount of scrooging, grinching and all-around grumbling. Too commercial, they say. Too religious. Not religious enough. Just too, too, too much!

Well, to paraphrase another of Mr. Scrooge’s memorable lines: all those humbugging naysayers should be should be boiled with their own pudding. (Who knew Dickens was
so graphic!)

Disregard, if you will, the mawkish music. Ignore, if you please, the bedecked malls. Pass by, if you choose, the street-corner Santas. But don’t, even if tempted, close your heart to a season that, despite its self-indulgences, is rooted in selflessness. Family, community, caring, giving­—good words upon which to build a holiday (not to mention a way of life).

It’s OK if you have to search for your Christmas spirit (it might be right where you left it last year). It’s around. Maybe just down the street. Try a walk through Tiburon just before dawn. There you’ll find a glorious fountain, moving as slowly as the sunrise. Close your eyes. Meditate on the beauty and passing of time. When you look up, if you’re lucky, you’ll find Christmas right in front of you.

“I will honour Christmas
in my heart, and try
to keep it all the year.”
— Ebenezer Scrooge
Charles Dickens,
A Christmas Carol