One of my favorite things to do after Christmas is to sit by my fire with a cup of Fortnum and Mason Afternoon Tea and look through all of the Christmas cards that are stacked in the silver tray in my front hall. Year after year this has been my tradition, to gaze at the photos of rosy cheeked Santas, snow covered moonlit country lanes and sparkling Christmas trees laden with all things red and green.
But this year, only four cards our of about thirty were of scenes that I’ve just described, the rest of them were photo cards displaying family portraits, pictures of children, dogs, cats…and as much as I love seeing my family and friends I have to confess to some disappointment and lack of enthusiasm as I looked through the stack. (And don’t even get me started on those long single spaced family letters that try to tell me what all six family members accomplished the past year!) Yikes!
Anyway, I digress. As I flipped through the cards I thought, who are we celebrating here? Who’s birthday is it anyway? I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing, but finally settled on a compromise. I’d include a recent family photo inside the card and only to those I was close to and who hadn’t seen us for a year or more. Yes, send those cute photos of Janie’s ballet recital and Jimmy proudly displaying his soccer trophy, but slide them inside the beautiful card displaying the nativity or a glorious Christmas tree. Celebrate your lives and send photos to those you are close to, those who haven’t seen you for awhile.
What do you guys think? Am I being ‘scrooge’ or do I have a point? 🙂 Let me hear from you. How do you keep a balance between the secular and the spiritual side of Christmas?What bugs you? What brings you joy and makes you smile?
Darcy
