How This Grace Thing Works

A Christmas tree! The one thing my little home in Williamsburg lacks-- abundantly here at my parent's house! No one else was home when I arrived, but the Christmas tree stood proudly in the family room, already lit and garlanded with the angel on top. No presents under it, though, so I put one under the tree to make it look more festive.

Last night was tree decorating night. With A Charlie Brown Christmas in the background and Sphinx asleep under the tree, we dragged out boxes and boxes of ornaments, all collected over many years. The finished product is eclectic; our tree has never been one of the perfect ones, with matching glass baubles and gold finishes. Instead it has everything from a paper hand-drawn creche scene ornament I made when I was five (you can imagine how classy that looks- ha!) to cross-stitched Santas to expensive glass balls and everything in-between.

After the tree is done, Christmas music goes on and I put up the Nativity scene. It's the most important task for me every year. I love unwrapping each figure: the three wise-men, with their gifts and their three camels; the shepherds in the fields by night, and the sheep they keep watch over, and even the drummer boy; the beautiful angel, who looks over all of them. But my favorite pieces are Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and, of course, the baby Jesus. I feel so reverent as I place them in the barn, with the cow who gave up her manger, and the donkey who carried Mary to Bethlehem. Those pieces glow with a special light.

I love all of the trappings of Christmas, presents and cards, holly boughs and mistletoe, candles and cookies-- but I love most of all remembering that for us Jesus was born. Yes, I know technically He was born in June, and Christianity just co-opted a pagan holiday and called it the nativity of Christ, but regardless, I still feel the grace of God every Christmas season. I think it's because, no matter whether you celebrate for religious or secular reasons, Christmas is about love and thinking of others before yourself. Gifts are given out of kindness, almost everyone seems a little happier. It's a time to reflect on those in your life who make you happiest, to strengthen friendships both old and new. A time to show unlimited love to humankind simply because we're all human. We all bear heavy burdens, and it's up to each of us to lighten that load for those around us-- no one else will do it for us.

Frankly, I'm not a very good Christian, because I don't believe there is only one way to God (which of course, a Christian in the truest sense must believe that Heaven can only be reached through an acceptance of Jesus Christ). I don't think I'm wrong in my Christian beliefs, but I don't think that anyone who tries to reach for the divine can go about it in the wrong way, so long as they have good intentions. Certainly, religions contradict each other and you may say that these irreconcilable differences void one or another religion, but I think that God is an eternal, unlimited being, available to each of us. And I think all that we can do is try to make Earth a better place through our own actions and our love of each other. And in the end, isn't that what most religions are about? Love one another, forgive each other our trespasses, love God, embrace the divine in each and every human being. Only through our harmony with ourselves and each other can we really find God and create the peaceful world we dream of.

Maybe, to quote a Mumford and Sons song, "that's exactly how this grace thing works."