Dear December

Dear December,

You are different than I expected.  When looking forward to your coming I anticipated huge white snowflakes, a double paycheck, Christmas magic and excitement filling the air, and peace and harmony everywhere.

That is not what you have brought.  Instead it's feeling rather like Fall with slightly more rain.  The job has not fallen into place as I had hoped.  Christmas with a child is not what I expected.  Though peace and harmony are in some places, it certainly isn't everywhere.

What happened to your magic?  The magic that comes with Christmas music on every station, lighted homes, stockings hung with care, toys in every store and every other symbol that Chritmas is coming near?  It is almost as if these things aren't enough...? 

Sincerely,

Where Did The Magic Go

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Dear Where Did The Magic Go,

I get that alot.  The wondering and waiting and wishing.  And I can understand why you ask; in the past these things seemed to be where the magic was.  Lighted windows seemed to bring magic with them.  A tree was a magical wonderland of promis and possibility.  But you've grown.  You've become somewhat responsible.  You've become more aware and a bit cynical.  And now the magic that you thought I brought with me just doesn't seem to be there anymore.

I've got a secret for you.  One that I'm pretty sure you already know, but I'll help you out anyway.  All of those outward things, the tree, the lights, the stockings... well, they are empty.  They are just things.  You are the one that gives them meaning.  They do not have magic powers in and of themselves.  They are empty and hollow until you make them into something; until you fill them.

You are the one that fills them with peace and harmony.  You are the one that remembers the joy they brought in the past.  But they were empty even then.  The joy you remember was not in the stockings, it was in the people that were with you.  The feelings of love that come with service and giving.  The feelings that come from remembering the birth of a small child a long time ago in Bethlehem.  The child that grew into a man and became the personification of hope, peace, and love.  The person who gave us all good things.  The person who loved you first.

The magic is not gone.  You just have to remember where you put it.  Not in ornaments or lights, but in your heart.

Sincerely,

December