The Season Should be Fun
A little while ago, I watched my wife meticulously stack home-made Christmas cookies in tin canisters. Most people would simply have placed them (maybe carefully) into a container, to keep them fresh, until someone ate them. After all, people will be biting their little heads off eventually. But my wife, stacked them, no sides touching, in separated layers--divided by cardboard circles, held off the layer below by little plastic risers--just so none of the decorations were compressed. And that was the easy part.
She had spent the entire day (and part of last night) making these cookies. She mixed the dough last night, baked the cookies this morning, then elaborately decorated each cookie over the course of the rest of the day. And I do mean decorated. It was certainly not enough to merely sprinkle them with colorful sweet bits--she also drew on each individual cookie with the kind of cake decoration you find in a "Cheese Whiz" type of can. Each cookie has a flawless border of icing, and a perfectly drawn face. Her Christmas cookies are veritable works of art. You'd think this was a labor of love, with a happy outcome. Not so!
What was once a happy tradition has become sheer drudgery for her. Her back aches from cooking them, then leaning over the table to decorate them. Her eyes hurt from straining to get every border just right. Her hands ache from holding the cake decorator cans. Her head hurts from the concentration. She isn't above biting off a head or two herself, if anyone (pets included) happens to cross her during this tedious process.
You might ask what is wrong with all of this. As far as I'm concerned, nothing really. But added to the rest of the holiday preparations she goes through, it has all simply become too much. Don't get me wrong--the cookies are good. The decorations are pretty. The gifts are wrapped perfectly (ribbons and bows must match not only in color, but design). The lights are bright. The mistletoe is hung just so (but never used, I might add).
The problem is that she can't seem to enjoy any of it. She is so busy getting ready for Christmas that she doesn't observe it. She observes the trappings, not the real holiday. She merely becomes "sick" from all the non-stop preparation. And I do mean physically sick. Her immune system goes on holiday vacation. It is sad. I just wish she could remember what Christmas is really all about.
I wonder if Jesus likes Christmas cookies?
A little while ago, I watched my wife meticulously stack home-made Christmas cookies in tin canisters. Most people would simply have placed them (maybe carefully) into a container, to keep them fresh, until someone ate them. After all, people will be biting their little heads off eventually. But my wife, stacked them, no sides touching, in separated layers--divided by cardboard circles, held off the layer below by little plastic risers--just so none of the decorations were compressed. And that was the easy part.
She had spent the entire day (and part of last night) making these cookies. She mixed the dough last night, baked the cookies this morning, then elaborately decorated each cookie over the course of the rest of the day. And I do mean decorated. It was certainly not enough to merely sprinkle them with colorful sweet bits--she also drew on each individual cookie with the kind of cake decoration you find in a "Cheese Whiz" type of can. Each cookie has a flawless border of icing, and a perfectly drawn face. Her Christmas cookies are veritable works of art. You'd think this was a labor of love, with a happy outcome. Not so!
What was once a happy tradition has become sheer drudgery for her. Her back aches from cooking them, then leaning over the table to decorate them. Her eyes hurt from straining to get every border just right. Her hands ache from holding the cake decorator cans. Her head hurts from the concentration. She isn't above biting off a head or two herself, if anyone (pets included) happens to cross her during this tedious process.
You might ask what is wrong with all of this. As far as I'm concerned, nothing really. But added to the rest of the holiday preparations she goes through, it has all simply become too much. Don't get me wrong--the cookies are good. The decorations are pretty. The gifts are wrapped perfectly (ribbons and bows must match not only in color, but design). The lights are bright. The mistletoe is hung just so (but never used, I might add).
The problem is that she can't seem to enjoy any of it. She is so busy getting ready for Christmas that she doesn't observe it. She observes the trappings, not the real holiday. She merely becomes "sick" from all the non-stop preparation. And I do mean physically sick. Her immune system goes on holiday vacation. It is sad. I just wish she could remember what Christmas is really all about.
I wonder if Jesus likes Christmas cookies?
posted by Busted Boomer | Thursday, December 16, 2004
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