Home Grown Christmas

 Real peace comes from being quiet and realizing we are loved.

It seems that a lot of people I know are abandoning certain aspects of the modern Christmas celebration. I've noticed a lot more people simplifying their Christmas traditions and searching for more meaningful ones. 

This year, I've tried to fully embrace the Advent season. One thing that I  have learned to love is that Advent is a time to reflect on our relationship with God and with each other. It is about silence, not noise. It is about people, not things. 

This made sense in an earlier times. For an agricultural society, all of the harvest was in from the fields. The work was done. In many places cold weather sets in. They found themselves called back home. It was the perfect time to nourish their relationships with God and with each other.

It makes sense to me now that I am leading a more home centered life. We still give gifts. Simple ones. Most of our gifts are homemade. I enjoy making gifts, because it gives me an opportunity to think about the recipient and spend some time thinking about my relationship with them. And working on these little projects also gives me plenty of time for prayer and reflection. December is perfect for this. I am staring straight into the eyes of a long winter. I want nothing more then to stoke the home fires and sit with the ones I love.