listen to the past

 This year we have decided to go with a "homemade" theme for Christmas ornaments on the tree. Well, except for the lights that is and our Angel that we have had for many years now. It's a theme, not a script, and so open for interpretation. We plan to put the crocheted stockings my wife has made, string popcorn which I have started to do, use the bubble lights, and angels that I made this year. Oh, we also have clothespin angels my wife made some years back. So maybe it isn't a "homemade" theme so much as a nostalgic theme. Yeah, I think that's what I'll call it. I have a particular ornament that was handmade by an old Navy buddy. Willy was what I called him. His last name was Williams, and he was from Texas. That's about all I know about him. But he made that ornament probably thirty years ago with some string and toothpicks. It has been on my tree every year since.

 It does take years to fully understand and appreciate just what Christmas is celebrating. It is about celebrating what was given, not what you can give. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I don't think I need to provide the source for that quote. Now being a senior citizen, I find myself being grateful for, and enjoying more, the gifts of the past rather than looking forward to getting anything more. It wasn't the gifts I received that provide comfort today, it was the love shared with others. That is what embraces my heart. Nostalgia? It very well may be to others, to those hearing the stories, but not to the one telling the tale. All of that is very much alive today, alive in my heart and my mind. 

 My mother always told me to "listen to the Christmas tree." It is something I have done every year for as long as I can remember. Christmas Eve before going to bed with the tree lighted and everything else off I sit there listening. It may be for a few minutes only, but I listen. Every year I hear a little bit more. I'm beginning to understand. I do love to tell the stories of the past, of my adventures and misadventures. I love to hear the tales of others, to share their experiences as best I can. 

 Today especially we hear much talk of compassion and empathy. How we should simply allow others to say and do as they please without question or judgement, how that is the path to understanding. Edward Gibbon, the author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in six volumes according to Google, perhaps expressed my thought best, long before I ever thought it. He said, "Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius." That's what I believe listening to the Christmas tree is all about. That is the lesson learned in silence. The Christmas tree has much to tell if you but listen. The past has a lot of lessons to teach. The past is the gift of the future. You just need to learn how to receive that gift. The best way to begin is by listening, in silence, without comment. In solitude. 

                                                            Ode on Solitude -BY ALEXANDER POPE Happy the man, whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air, In his own ground. Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire, Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter fire. Blest, who can unconcernedly find Hours, days, and years slide soft away, In health of body, peace of mind, Quiet by day, Sound sleep by night; study and ease, Together mixed; sweet recreation; And innocence, which most does please, With meditation. Thus let me live, unseen, unknown; Thus unlamented let me die; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie.