{"id":4385,"date":"2020-12-25T02:42:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-25T02:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=4385"},"modified":"2023-12-22T00:33:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T00:33:16","slug":"christmas-2020-im-glad-to-be-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/christmas-2020-im-glad-to-be-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas, 2020: I’m Glad to Be Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
\n(My corner of small town America around noon, Christmas Eve.)<\/p>\n

It’s Christmas Eve afternoon here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Weather, Wind Chill, Memory and Deciding<\/h4>\n

<\/a>Wednesday’s blizzard became a wind chill advisory, which has since retreated to lands north and west of my home.<\/p>\n

And I’ve decided to stop trying to remember the topic or topics I had in mind last night.<\/p>\n

All I remember is that I had more than one in mind, and that they were “slightly more Christmas-themed stuff.” I might not even have remembered that detail, if I hadn’t written it down. Or, more accurately, keyed it in.<\/p>\n

I could fret over that lapse of memory.<\/p>\n

Since I’ll be 70 next year, I could emulate gerascophobia \u2014 it’s a real word \u2014 and write an earnest epistle on the virtues of some fad diet or vices of targeted advertising.<\/p>\n

But I won’t. My brain is good for quite a few tasks. But rote memory isn’t one of them, and never has been.<\/p>\n

So I’ll decide that whatever the “Christmas-themed stuff” was, I didn’t think it was important enough to write down. Or key in. And probably wasn’t worth remembering.<\/p>\n

And if I had written\/typed\/keyed the ideas, recording them in written form, I’d probably remember them without reference to what I’d written.<\/p>\n

Which is why I made copious notes during my college classes.<\/p>\n

I’d occasionally read through my notebooks before midterms and finals. But after the first academic cycle, I’d learned that writing ideas down as I was hearing them fixed them in my long-term memory. With the occasional panic-inspiring exceptions.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Tis the Season to be Kitschy<\/h4>\n

<\/a>
\n(From Verizon & Macy’s, used w\/o permission.)<\/span>
\n(Nothing says “Christmas” like self-propelled bowling shoes.)<\/p>\n

\"Victorian<\/a>Weather, however, doesn’t have much to do with Advent or Christmas.<\/p>\n

Neither does memory, text anxiety or \u2014 a polar Wookiee?!<\/p>\n

That bit of weirdness is a Victorian Christmas greeting card sold by L. Prang and Company: a visionary pioneer in a field which has enriched our culture with kitsch.<\/p>\n

And made Hallmark productions a schmaltzy symbol for some, a cornucopia of comfort for others.<\/p>\n

My attitude is somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n

I like schmaltz and kitsch. In moderation. Which is, I figure, why I enjoy the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.<\/p>\n

But I think there’s more to Christmas than Brobdingnagian bowling shoes and 16-foot self-propelled pins.<\/p>\n

Christmas specials, some of them, come closer to the mark with their “and the true meaning of Christmas is” \u2014 being nice to neighbors, warm family feelings, something like that.<\/p>\n

And one, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” got it right. I talked about the Peanuts Christmas special a few years back. (December 24, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n

And probably will again, but not today. Or, very likely, during this Christmas season. Which, since I’m a Catholic, begins today.<\/p>\n

<\/a>“…That’s What Christmas is All About….”<\/h4>\n

\"<\/a>I talked about octaves, Advent and Christmastide last year.<\/p>\n

Along with a quick look at what’s changed and what hasn’t over the last couple millennia. (December 31, 2019<\/a>)<\/p>\n

What we do each year, and how we do it, matters. But it’s not nearly as important as why<\/strong> we get together and celebrate.<\/p>\n

“The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
\n“For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
\n“And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’
\n“And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
\n“‘Glory to God in the highest
\n“and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'”
\n(Luke 2:10<\/a>–14<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n

Linus Van Pelt:<\/strong> [Linus picks up his blanket and walks back towards Charlie Brown]
\n“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
\n(“15 of the Most Memorable Quotes from A Charlie Brown Christmas<\/a>,” Katie Robinson, Town and Country Magazine (November 24, 2020)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>Christmas and COVID-19, a Memorable Combination<\/h4>\n


\n(Our Lady of Angels, my parish church, second Saturday of Christmas: January 2, 2015.)<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"Marunouchi's<\/a>No Christmas is exactly like another. But this year’s is more distinctive than most.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has made 2020 a memorable year.<\/p>\n

My parish church doesn’t have our traditional Christmas tree. The manger scene and ‘starlit sky’ display isn’t up. And I don’t envy the folks who make sure we don’t exceed the allowed number of folks in the sanctuary.<\/p>\n

But instead of complaining about that, or indulging in an anguished lament over the decline and fall of everything and everyone \u2014 I’ll close with something almost completely different.<\/p>\n

\n

Update: Christmas Afternoon, December 25, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

My parish’s Christmas tree was up this morning. So was our manger scene and starry backdrop. Dummkopf that I occasionally am, I’d forgotten that they’re not in place until Christmas. Neither was the one in my house. It’s up, too, and that’s something for another day.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Enjoying Another Christmas<\/h4>\n

\"Merry
\n(Merry Christmas, with the “Chumley, the Elf Who Slept Through Christmas” TV special.)<\/p>\n

\"MyIt’s now Christmas Eve evening here in central Minnesota, and early Christmas morning a few time zones east of there.<\/p>\n

“Eve evening???” That sounds, and probably is, redundantly reiterative. Never mind.<\/p>\n

My family, following our customs, opened some of our presents an hour or so ago.<\/p>\n

We’re keeping others under the tree, to be opened when a daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter come.<\/p>\n

This Christmas is particularly merry, in the ‘festivity and rejoicing’ sense, time for me because I’m here.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My September-October hospital interlude helped me appreciate the daily miracle of living. (October 5, 2020<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I’d planned on talking about that “Merry Christmas” scene, with it’s “Chumley” Christmas special. But that flight of fancy must wait for another day. Or, more likely, another year.<\/p>\n

Which isn’t that far ahead. New Years Eve is Thursday of next week. And that’s another topic.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, here’s the usual list of somewhat-related posts:<\/p>\n