LIGHT...by Jim Terry

You know I have always wondered what it is about Christmastime that makes it so special…so magical? Is it the hustle and bustle of the shopping frenzy that emanates and now starts with displays being put up around Labor Day? Is it the change of the weather that accomplishes the goal of the traditional Christmas song’s theme, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas?” Is it the newfound kindness towards mankind and helping each other, which seems to be forgotten for most of the year, which helps make it more special? In Judaism, they may say it is because of their celebration of Hanukkah.  With Christianity, they would easily say that it is because of the obvious…their celebration of the birth of the Savior.  And yes, I think all of these things are important too and is why I wrote them, but there has been and always will be something about the LIGHT that is displayed this time of year that makes it so special.

©Jim Terry Rockefeller Center

I remember as a kid loving to help set up the tree. As most of you know from our previous blogs, Christmastime would start with our yearly trip to the mountains, the weekend of Thanksgiving, to cut down the “perfect” Christmas tree. Once home with our tree, I remember that my Dad would tell us we would first have to “put it in the stand overnight and let the tree warm up.”  I never asked why a tree would have to warm up before we decorated it but the next morning when our home was filled with that wonderful scent of mountain pine air, the concern I had with having to wait to decorate the tree always seemed to miraculously drift away into memories past.

As we started to decorate our tree, I know my favorite lights on our tree were always the old-fashioned bubble lights.   You remember the ones, don’t you? They were the lights that had the small glass tube on top of the light which were filled with different colors of water. Once the liquid warmed up, you would then be able to witness “bubbles” rising to the top of that small tube.

I remember sitting there for hours at times waiting for each individual bubble light to start working.  If they didn’t work, I would make sure to let my Mom or Dad know because I wanted them all to work perfectly because it was the Christmas season.  And once they all started working, I would then just sit there and stare into the tree until the lights became one and formed a blurry lit hue which allowed my mind to wander into wonderful memories of family, of friends, of the magic, that always exists this time of year.  And more often than not, my Mom would find me on the floor in front of the tree after I drifted off into a peaceful night's slumber because of the comfort and warmth I felt from simply staring at the light on our tree and the memories they evoked. When I think of it now, I am actually surprised that something as simple as a “light” would make a young boy like me, who always had to be doing something, calm down and sit there until visions of “sugar-plums danced in my head.”  

In going back to and to answer my own question I posted earlier, I will just say this, "Whether that be a physical display of light on a tree or on a home which evokes memories of harmony and warmth or the light of His goodness that makes people kinder... more charitable...more patient this time of year is really what makes Christmastime so special...so magical for me." 

So while I will only have to dream of a white Christmas this year since I will be spending it in California, I can promise you that there has been and is going to be, more moments for this older child who will be sitting on a couch in front of a tree. And as I once again stare into the light with my Christmas music quietly playing in the background, the scent of pine in the air and the lights slowly combining into that giant lit hue, I may just drift off into a peaceful slumber once again knowing I am blessed, loved and so lucky to have experienced the light! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

♦ Hope you'll let us share your stories and photos here at our residence "In a Nutshell." Email us at nutshellstories@gmail.com.  

P.S. Here is another great example of what light can do. Not sure who wrote it but I thought this analogy was a great example for this time of year and follows with our theme of light.  

“Gracefully broken!! 
I was in Dollar Tree last night, and there was a lady and two kids behind me in a LONG line. One was a big kid, and the other one was a toddler. The bigger one had a pack of glow sticks, and the toddler was screaming for them. The Mom opened the pack and gave him one, which stopped his tears. He walked around with it smiling; but then the bigger boy took it, and the toddler started screaming again. Just as the Mom was about to fuss, the older child bent the glow stick and handed it back to the toddler. As we walked outside at the same time, the toddler noticed that the stick was now glowing; and his brother said, "I had to break it so that you could get the full effect from it."
I almost ran, because l could hear God saying to me, "I had to break you to show you why I created you. You had to go through it so you could fulfill your purpose."
That precious child was happy just swinging that "unbroken" glow stick around in the air, because he didn't understand what it was created to do - which was to "glow".
There are some people who will be content just "being," but some of us that God has chosen... we have to be "broken."
We have to get sick.
We have to lose a job.
We go through a divorce.
We have to bury our spouse, parents, best friend, or our child...
In those moments of desperation, God is breaking us. But... when the breaking is done, then we will be able to see the reason for which we were created and why we are here.
So when you see someone glowing, just know that they have been broken but healed by HIS Grace and Mercy!!!”