Another year closes.

If there is righteousness in the heart,
there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.
So let it be.

Peace on us all.

Christmas, as usual, was phenomenal. Everything you wish for and more. This past week has given us a little snow - and the girls have enjoyed it.

BEFORE we get to the BIG birthday (y'know...Jesus?!) we celebrate another in our family. Yesterday was my sister Angela's big day. There was a time, when we were younger, when I truly believed that we would never be friends. Family, sure, but friends...no, probably not. I was wrong. Oh so very wrong and oh so very glad to be wrong! She's turned into the best friend that a girl could ever want. Everyone should have one.

Full honest confession: I LOVE Christmas. I love it all. The shopping for gifts, the wrapping of gifts, the watching the gifts get opened, I love the decorations, the tree, the music. I love the treats and the feasts and the family time.

But I also must confess that I see less joy and more tired faces. Over the last 2 weeks I have heard at least three times on CBC radio a credit counselor offering advice on not going into debt over the holidays. I was at the library yesterday and 4 of the magazines I picked up to read all had articles addressing the same thing. They say that the average Canadian spends $800 - $1000 on Christmas. That's a lotta loot.

BUT I should also make it clear I'm not anti-spending or gift-giving. My girls will be opening real gifts under our tree and not a card saying we bought them a goat in Africa- which is, by the way, a great idea in and of itself. I'd like that for Christmas. I'm not preaching against Christmas. Just maybe that we need to slow down and THINK a little bit more. Think about what we are doing and why. Just press the pause button. I found this website and I found it intriguing. A place where you just have time to stop and think.

Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption.
http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

I'm so proud of my daughter/nieces. Last week, when the weather turned so cold, they took it upon themselves to go door to door in our neighbourhood and ask if anyone had any warm jackets,blankets, clothing for the homeless. They came back with 6 garbage bags full of things. Phoebe, Madison, Kaitlyn and Tansie are 10 and 11 years old. You're never to young.

In other news....Caris went to the Christmas Formal dance last Friday night. Her and her friends looked so handsome/beautiful.

December 8, 1980.

John Lennon was shot dead 27 years ago. Funny the things you never forget. I can tell you where I was, what I felt. How utterly shocked and lost I felt.

A very sad day.

As we celebrate Advent - the preparation time before Christmas- here is a calming and peaceful prayer. A perfect bit of calm in contrast to the busy chaos that occasionally goes with this season.


Let Your goodness Lord appear to us,
that we made in your image,
conform ourselves to it.
In our own strength
we cannot imitate Your majesty, power, and wonder
nor is it fitting for us to try.
But Your mercy reaches from the heavens
through the clouds to the earth below.
You have come to us as a small child,
but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts,
the gift of eternal love
Caress us with Your tiny hands,
embrace us with Your tiny arms
and pierce our hearts with Your soft, sweet cries.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

As I type this I am listening to my new CD that I got for my birthday. I seldom make requests - I'd much rather being totally and completely surprised. But on this birthday - I had put in for a very specific new Bob Dylan release. Simply called Dylan. All his classics. Three CD's of his amazing talent. I am in heaven. Pure bliss. Did I mention that I REALLY like this CD? I'm feeling all those things inside that I felt many many years ago when I first discovered him. I've seen him in concert twice. Well, the first time was him with the Grateful Dead and I'm pretty sure he wasn't at his best! sidenote: amazing 8 hour outdoor concert and a true cultural experience! But since then I saw him with Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell. He was in fine form. And yes, I could understand all his lyrics!

What a poet. a prophet even. a voice of truth. well, occasionally anyway.