Take some time to enjoy the sparkle of the holidays!

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.

— Charles Dickens

As we get closer to Christmas some of us – me included – are beginning to feel the pressure of the impending date and everything that must be done by the 25^th.  And, before we morph into Star Trek “grumps”, I say it’s time to recapture a little child-like wonder.

Some of the holiday traditions that I count on to add sparkle to my holidays include:

• Advent Calendars: The girls in the photo above are looking at a giant tableau of the advent countdown to Christmas… I’ve never seen one so huge! The Trader Joe’s advent calendars that I send out every year are much smaller but anxiously awaited and enjoyed by the almost twenty nieces, nephews, grandson and other precious velcroed-members of our extended family. It’s not too late to get an advent calendar of your own – open the doors, 1-13, at one sitting – that should get your sparkle glimmering!
• Then there’s my John Denver and the Muppets Christmas CD – I especially like the soothing and reassuring sounds of Alfie The Christmas Tree/It’s In Every One Of Us.  The lyrics are long, but oh how they calm me when I’m feeling a bit undone.  Take a listen and see if you feel a little bit more peaceful afterwards:
  

  Did you ever hear the story of the Christmas tree
  Who just didn’t want to change the show
  He liked living in the woods and playing with squirrels
  He liked icicles and snow.

  He liked wolves and eagles and grizzly bears
  And critters and creatures that crawled
  Why bugs were some of his very best friends
  Spiders and ants and all

  Now that’s not to say that he ever looked down
  On a vision of twinkled lights
  Or on mirrored bubbles and peppermint canes
  And a thousand other delights

  And he often had dreams of tiny reindeer
  And a jolly old man in a sleigh
  Full of toys and presents and wonderful things
  And a story of Christmas day…

  Oh, Alfie believed in Christmas alright
  He was full of Christmas cheer
  All of each and every day
  And all throughout the year

  To him it was more than a special time
  Much more than a special day
  It was more than a special story, it was more than a beautiful story
  It was a special kind of way

  You see some folks have never heard a jingle bell ring
  And they’ve never heard of Santa Claus
  They’ve never heard the story of the Son of God
  That made Alfie pause

  Did that mean that they’d never know of peace on earth
  Or the brotherhood of man
  Or know how to love, or know how to give
  If they can’t no one can

  You see, life is a very special kind of thing
  Not just for a chosen few
  But for each and every living, breathing thing
  Not just me and you

  So when you’re at Christmas prayers this year
  Alfie asked me if I’d ask you
  Say a prayer for the wind and the water and the wood
  And those who live there too…

  …It’s in every one of us
  To be wise
  Find your heart
  Open up both your eyes
  We can all know everything
  Without ever knowing why

  It’s in every one of us
  By and by

  It’s in every one of us
  To be wise
  Find your heart
  Open up both your eyes
  We can all know everything
  Without ever knowing why

  It’s in every one of us
  By and by
  By and by…

• Every evening since Thanksgiving I’ve delighted in how my street shines with lighted snowmen – thanks to exuberant neighbors’ efforts to decorate the lane!  My own contribution to our local lights festival, in addition to a couple of snowmen, are the lighted candy canes atop my fences and multicolored net lights draped over every available surface – Ta-Da! – SPARKLE every evening ’til Christmas!
• But my very favorite little holiday gem is the PBS rerun of the Peter Paul and Mary Holiday Concert.  Sadly, we lost the very special Mary Travers a few years ago.  But her legacy lives on in the many joyful Peter Paul and Mary concerts, with thanks to Public Broadcasting System’s fundraising reruns!
• My very favorite song from their Christmas concert is the jolly rendition of the Marvelous Toy – it’s waaay too delightful for me to try to describe – please, please, please go out to Youtube.com and watch it for yourself! It will make you smile and then laugh and then bounce with delight.  Can you say…

Ok – good try.  Now, enjoy the lyrics:

When I was just a wee little lad,
Full of health and joy,
My father homeward came one night
And gave to me a toy.
A wonder to behold it was
With many colors bright
And the moment I laid eyes on it,
It became my heart’s delight.
Refrain:
It went Zip when it moved and Pop when it stopped,
Whirrr when it stood still
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.

— The Marvelous Toy

And if all those happy holiday traditions don’t have you feeling a little more kid-like, then it’s time to heed Elizabeth Lesser’s advice in her Beliefnet.com article titled, Have an Imperfectly Happy Holiday, Overcoming the blues in this season of high expectations:

The first thing you can do to reduce holiday angst is to delete the word “normal” from your vocabulary. I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “Normal is someone you don’t know very well.” This is always a good thing to keep in mind, especially now, when we assume that the normal people are all having happier, healthier, and more harmonious holidays than we are. We imagine their mailboxes stuffed with Christmas cards and party invitations, their homes decorated in Martha Stewart splendor, their intact and idyllic families primed for weeks of good cheer.

In another article, Lesser offers Ten Ways to Beat the Holiday Blues – here’s one I really like and, I think that if you give it a try, you will too:

Seek sacred space.

Drop into a Christian church or Muslim mosque or Jewish synagogue or Hindu temple or… you get the idea. Sometimes just sitting in sacred space can remind you of the true meaning of the holidays. Most places of worship welcome all people, even those just looking for a touch of grace in the midst of a stressful day. Instead of hurrying by that church you have passed a hundred times on the way to work, take a moment to enter its doors and sit quietly, imbibing the atmosphere and the prayers of its members.

Really my friends – do it!  Why?  Because, one way or another, it’s good to add some Ta-Da! – Sparkle! to your holiday To-Do List!

We need less posturing and more genuine charisma. Charisma was originally a religious term, meaning “of the spirit” or “inspired.” It’s about letting God’s light shine through us. It’s about a sparkle in people that money can’t buy. It’s an invisible energy with visible effects. To let go, to just love, is not to fade into the wallpaper. Quite the contrary, it’s when we truly become bright. We’re letting our own light shine.

— Marianne Williamson

MAKE the time to enjoy the sparkle of the holidays!