My earliest memory of Christmas was of people with candles singing carols under the window. And to this day ‘Silent Night’ must be one of the most beautiful and profound hymns ever written. And though Christmas has lost much of its value (to me) in years to come, the songs and sounds of Christmas never have. I must have been fairly small because I remember being in a wooden cot with the pillow case tied round the end for Father Christmas to put something in. Much as I tried to stay awake to see him, I could never do.
I remember my mother taking me to a shop where you could go into a cave and get a? Lucky Packet (big box) often with soap bubbles and then sit on Father Christmas’ lap. This I did not like too much…sitting on his lap!
I remember Christmas in the little Free State town of Boshof when we visited my grandmother and where my brother fell into a muddy ditch with his Sunday best on Christmas day.
I do not remember much of presents, just all the excitement and wrappings … and the coins in the Christmas pudding and how I ate this sticky fruit pudding just because I was hoping to find a coin or a charm….The coin / charm probably had little, if any, value, the discovery was what it was all about. How true that is of life in general sometimes?
I remember the Sunday school concerts where you were an angel/ Mother Mary/ Joseph/ shepherd/ one of the 3 Wise men/ singing in the choir or something else very important.
Gradually I grew up and things changed. Christmas would never be the same.
Because Christmas is for Little Children (and here I can hear the shrieks of joy) who have not yet been disillusioned by the truth that what there was or what there is supposed to be , has been lost somehow …………….and the spirit of giving and loving and togetherness is seldom present.
I have watched how people mull in a shopping mall looking for gifts in case they miss out somebody that brought them a gift (all worthless junk eventually), I have heard them talk about what they will have to ‘do’ for Christmas lunch with an unhappy sigh, I have read about family fights that turn into violent catastrophes with tragic consequences, I have known what it is to invite some guests to sit a Christmas table just in order not to feel guilty, and I have known how I wished to sleep right through Christmas and wake up on 2 January.
But what I really want for Christmas, money cannot buy. You probably want the same anyway.
I remember my mother taking me to a shop where you could go into a cave and get a? Lucky Packet (big box) often with soap bubbles and then sit on Father Christmas’ lap. This I did not like too much…sitting on his lap!
I remember Christmas in the little Free State town of Boshof when we visited my grandmother and where my brother fell into a muddy ditch with his Sunday best on Christmas day.
I do not remember much of presents, just all the excitement and wrappings … and the coins in the Christmas pudding and how I ate this sticky fruit pudding just because I was hoping to find a coin or a charm….The coin / charm probably had little, if any, value, the discovery was what it was all about. How true that is of life in general sometimes?
I remember the Sunday school concerts where you were an angel/ Mother Mary/ Joseph/ shepherd/ one of the 3 Wise men/ singing in the choir or something else very important.
Gradually I grew up and things changed. Christmas would never be the same.
Because Christmas is for Little Children (and here I can hear the shrieks of joy) who have not yet been disillusioned by the truth that what there was or what there is supposed to be , has been lost somehow …………….and the spirit of giving and loving and togetherness is seldom present.
I have watched how people mull in a shopping mall looking for gifts in case they miss out somebody that brought them a gift (all worthless junk eventually), I have heard them talk about what they will have to ‘do’ for Christmas lunch with an unhappy sigh, I have read about family fights that turn into violent catastrophes with tragic consequences, I have known what it is to invite some guests to sit a Christmas table just in order not to feel guilty, and I have known how I wished to sleep right through Christmas and wake up on 2 January.
But what I really want for Christmas, money cannot buy. You probably want the same anyway.
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