patrick brennan [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Tonight we'll sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem." These words from that song have always stood out to me, "The hopes and fears of all the years/ Are met in thee tonight."
We all have hopes, and most of us have fears. Things don't go the way we want them to, and more things are out of our control than not.
But tonight, Christians around the world celebrate Love, Light, Life, and Hope being born into the world for everyone. Every one.
Whether or not you are a Jesus follower, who couldn't use some Love, Light, Life, and Hope?
Another song about Bethlehem touches me with these words:
"The heart is tired at Bethlehem,
No human dream unbroken stands;
Yet here God comes..."
We live in a noisy world, and never more so than during the holiday season. Bells jingle and tinkle, horses clip-clop, carolers falala, and every store has piped-in music and noisy toys to tempt buyers and their children. Noise seems to be valued and desired more than quiet.
Picture book author Deborah Underwood recognizes that there are many different kinds of quiet. She names some of them in her Quiet Book. For example, there's "lollipop quiet" and "pretending you're invisible quiet." Some quiet times are happy, and some are anxiety prone.
Where I live, we are experiencing the deepest, darkest days of the year. We hurtle toward the Winter Solstice and our celebration of Christmas a few days later. These events toward the end of our calendar year make me want to stop and reflect, and that requires quiet.
Underwood knows that Christmas has its own kinds of quiet. Hence her picture book The Christmas Quiet Book. There's "knocking with mittens quiet" and "listening for sleigh bells quiet," for example. Even as I look back on the past year, these kinds of quiet indicate anticipation, looking forward.
Both books are illustrated with quiet animal drawings by Renata Liwska, who demonstrates that quiet does not mean inactive or passive.
As I wait for these days at the end of the year to arrive and pass, I wonder how I can be actively quiet? How can I stop, reflect, look back, look forward and still get done the many things this season demands? How do you find quiet time?
In tribute to the season, I offer this sweet Austrian carol, "Stille, Stille, Stille," sung in English by the Norman Luboff choir.
Girls and boys around the globe are making their Christmas wish lists! Maybe many adults are, too. We welcome Penguin, the little bird with a big heart. In Penguin's Christmas Wish, he and his family go on an adventure to see Pinecone, Penguin's tree friend. They discover that Pinecone has grown up! And while things don't go exactly as planned, Christmas works its magic so that Penguin's wish comes true. This sweet book gets to the core of Christmas--sharing love--that all ages can understand and enjoy. The publisher, Bloomsbury, offers a free activity kit chock full of gift tags, ornaments, and more.
I was happy to meet author Salina Yoon at the 2016 Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival this fall. Born in Korea, she and her parents emigrated to the U.S. when she was 4 years old. Knowing no English, she struggled to fit in with other kids, and many of her books have a strong friendship theme. This title is one of several in the Penguin series. Her Bear series is equally delightful. (I wrote about one title in a previous post.)
My granddaughter's Christmas wish is for the entire Penguin series, which is fairly easy to fulfill. Some of our adult wishes are much more difficult, as this song expresses:
Let's face it, no matter what our age, we spend time waiting--and complaining about waiting. One source says we spend 6 months of our lives waiting in line! If a website is too slow to load--a matter of a few seconds--it's bye, bye website. We hate waiting for anything.
By David Shankbone (David Shankbone) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
In my faith tradition, we are at the end of the period of waiting known as Advent. This kind of waiting is more like wild anticipation for Christmas, the birth of Jesus. Of course, those without faith traditions may also feel this anticipation as they wait for Santa to bring gifts from the North Pole.
This kind of waiting is much more active than the waiting in line kind. Have you noticed the frenzy as we get closer to December 24 and 25? We remember friends and relatives with cards and gifts, though this may be the only time all year that we are in contact. Still, we appreciate them. We wait to hear from them, too. We flour our kitchens in a flurry of cookie baking, making specialties enjoyed usually once a year. And every year we wonder if we'll get it all done on time--while we wait for Christmas to come.
As a child did you hate waiting for time to open presents? It's excruciating to wait for grown-ups to visit, and eat, and drink coffee, and clear the table, and do dishes until it's finally time to open gifts!
Which brings me back to this deceptively simple picture book. Five toys on a windowsill watch and wait, each for something different. The toys are happy to get what they waited for, which happens at irregular intervals. And in the meantime, time goes by, and the toys wait.
I could read in some "live in the moment" advice here. Be happy while you wait. Joyfully anticipate what will happen next. Watch what's going on, and delight in the little things. Or maybe it's just a book about toys waiting on a windowsill.
Christmas is upon us and a new year is around the corner. What do you joyfully anticipate? What are you waiting for?
I'll leave you with this for Merry Christmas, peace on earth, and goodwill to ALL, today and in the year ahead:
Tom Roberts was far from home one Christmas season, stranded by a snowstorm. Howling winds and snow closed the roads, so he sat in his car in a truck stop parking lot and waited.
He had just finished giving an acting workshop, and the familiar words from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Moore ran through his mind. He took out paper and pen and set to work writing his own Christmas story, 'Twas the Night before Christ.
That story poem became the first of Tom's three Christmas picture books. The year after 'Twas the Night before Christ, Tom released Santa's Prayer, a response to people who had commented on his first book.
The next year, The Little Lost Sock was published. This book was inspired by lost and found boxes in the churches and schools where Tom and his wife, Tammy, gave programs. The lost sock served as metaphor for the children whose cause Tom and Tammy have taken up, Children's Home Society of South Dakota.
Tom's books were published because of his family's desire to do a mission project. He and Tammy mentioned his poem 'Twas the Night before Christ in conversation over coffee at church, and the project was born. A professional printer, an illustrator with graphic design experience, and others donated time, talent, and funds to publish the book. Proceeds would benefit Children's Home Society, an organization where Tom had played Santa Claus and desired to help the children--and others like them--who had sat in his lap.
The other two books followed the same pattern, brought into being by generous donors.
Tammy is an integral part of the book-making team, acting as Tom's editor and advisor, as well as overseeing the many aspects of production. They travel and give presentations together, giving their audiences a Christmas gift of story and song, and making their books available for sale to help the Children's Home kids.
Tom's background as actor, storyteller, and script and commercial writer prepared him for his present job as Event Coordinator for Children's Home Society. Tammy's background in marketing is a perfect fit for helping promote the books and conduct fundraising for Children's Home Society.
What began as a poem penned in a snowstorm has become a blizzard of blessings all around!
(photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/vblibrary/5227409599/sizes/l/in/photostream/ by Enokson)
Though there's no snow falling here yet (and that's more than fine with me!), books are always calling! This time of year, it's time to dig out the old Christmas favorites and find some new favorites, too.
Two new Christmas books for children (which really means "all ages," don't you think?) popular in my region reflect the heritages of many of my area's residents. Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, a South Dakota author, brings us a memory from her childhood on the Rosebud Reservation. The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood takes us into the not-so-distant past on the plains. Virginia really needs a new winter coat, but so do the other kids she knows. When charity boxes arrive (called "Theast boxes" because they come from "The East"), a beautiful fur coat tempts her. But Virginia knows that, as the minister's daughter, she won't get first choice. Read the book to see how things work out for Christmas joy. The illustrations by Ellen Beier provide accurate detail of the times and situations to complement the story.
(photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/triplezero/3127235680/ triplezero)
Jan Brett's new Christmas book, Home for Christmas features Rollo, the runaway Swedish troll. Brett's signature border art and depiction of the action make this a fun story for young and old. Rollo has adventures with many different animals before he finds that home may be best after all.
For more Christmas book ideas, see this list from Horn Book magazine.
(photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/sycamoremoonstudios/4204652240/ Theresa, cheekycrows3)
We love stories of Santa, elves, trolls, and other magical creatures, but for me, Christmas magic is best told in the original Christmas story from the book of Luke. See Linus, of "Peanuts" fame, recite it in this 2 minute clip:
I intend to do an actual blog post soon, but in the meantime, here's something to tide you over--the Winter Wonderland at Falls Park in my city. It really does make me ooh & aah! Enjoy the video and find some wonder in your own neighborhood this season.
Have you put up your Christmas tree yet? This tradition dates back to 14th century Eastern Europe and comes to the US from Germany and England.
Though Christmas trees have been controversial--are they pagan or Christian? Are they environmentally friendly? Should they be real or artificial?--they never fail to delight.
Our entire state celebrates by decorating trees at the Capitol. My colleagues and I got a chance for a quick tour this month. Each tree is decorated by a town or organization, with ornaments depicting a certain theme.
Some towns celebrating special anniversary years have town families' pictures on their ornaments, such as the tree from Bristol. The Operation Military Kids tree has ornaments made from military dog tags. Even the tree toppers go far beyond the typical angel or star. The tree from the town of Claremont, in the northeastern part of the state, has cattails on top, representing the slough country surrounding the town.
The spectacular South Dakota tree was decorated by the SD State Historical Society and commemorates the Capitol's 100th anniversary. My colleagues and I appreciated the creativity of our fellow state citizens and were impressed by the splendor of rows and rows of trees. See more here.
Why the wonderment? Maybe it's the oddity of seeing a tree indoors in the dead of winter. Maybe it's the beauty of the ornaments. Or maybe it's the glow of the lights.
When my brother & I were kids, a family friend always invited us to her home when she had decorated her tree. She'd turn off all the house lights, and we'd ooh and aah at the lights on the tree, especially transfixed by the bubble lights.
Outdoor Christmas tree lights are just as awe-inspiring. Our city creates Winter Wonderland at Falls Park each December, decorating over 200 trees! In this cold, dark land, those lights are a warm, welcome sight. See it here.
Whether your tree is up yet or not, whether it's more "Charlie Brown" than "House & Garden," grab a cup of tea or hot chocolate, and enjoy this tribute to Christmas trees. Merry Christmas!
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