All the Year

I’m not a praying man or much of a churchgoer, to begin with. Still, I love Christmas. Not all the commercial stuff attached to it. That’s nothing more than what a barnacle is to a boat, not its magic. The magic is what the Christmas season does to us, how it slows us down, gets us to set aside workaday concerns, makes us a little more patient with each other, gentler, kinder. Even if the effect is only momentary, it’s remarkable.

I love the storytelling Christmas inspires. My favorite movie has to be Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve seen it, must be north of 50. Never gets old. The finest story I’ve ever read just might be Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Favorite song? Oh man, that’s tough, could be any one of a thousand, depends on the mood. Around this time of year, Jackson Browne’s “The Rebel Jesus” cries out.

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants’ windows are all bright
With the face…