Quiet, Soft & Slow

I find myself at the end of every year, wondering where the time went. I begin every December desiring the quietness that comes with a fresh blanket of snow, yet only being able to carve out little moments, here and there. The hustle and bustle carries on and then it's over before I can fully take hold of anything. Holiday movies end and clearance sales begin. Christmas music and the cheerful greetings are silenced. I've attempted wishing people a Merry Christmas after the 25th and it was met with cocked eyebrows. There's a time limit on the merriment, don't you know?

With every year, I become a little more rebellious and push the limits of the season. What is Christmas if I cannot carry it over into the new year? Would not my heart and yours be better off with a season that lingers long into the frozen new year? What if we continue to look for and embrace the Light of the World in the dark days of January?

As the advent calendars are tucked away, I choose to remain in the Light of Jesus - to bask in the hope, joy, peace and love that is the foundation of all that truly feels like Christmas. I attended a liturgical church in my youth and we didn’t actually begin singing songs about Jesus’ birth until Christmas Day and through the 12 days until Ephiphany (when the three wise men were acknowledged). Advent was a time of longing and waiting. I wonder if we end up missing out on all of it. I have spent this week in pursuit of the still small voice I always long to hear when the busyness of December takes over. It was as I suspected... in every snowflake, singing bird and frosty tree.

You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

- Audrey Assad "Winter Snow"