Yep… I must be getting old, for sure. As I type this, it is December 4th, 2023 and Christmas is coming at me like a run-a-way freight train! Lord help! Wasn’t it January 2023 just a few days ago? How’s that for an old guy’s setup to a blog post about the topic of Christmas???
Ok, it seems that as we get older, we are more emotionally sensitive to holidays and such. This is especially true if you have diverse life experiences – and I simply use that current buzzword for its long-standing meaning… different. At this point in my life on this spinning orb, I have celebrated Christmas in the US (of course), Romania, and Czech Republic. In the rather large photo album below, you will see photos from those different locations, going back as far as 2009, I think. The photos are in no apparent order, BTW. To make a point about what real Christmas diversity is like, let’s start off with a video from our Christmas in Brno, CZ. I still love to hear its haunting sound and it propels me back to that cold night in the city center of the second largest city in Czech Republic…
Now, let me share a few thoughts about my mindset, right now, considering Christmas in 2023. These thoughts may seem as random as the order of the pics, but they are very real to me right now.
Alrighty then… I could yet wax deeper into the nostalgic past, but let’s stop here and acknowledge that I am certainly not the only soul who struggles with Christmas memories and the direction that our nation is heading – culturally. People, if you are in the same predicament as I, let’s make a conscious decision to reign in the errant thoughts and reclaim the true meaning of Christmas, one way or another. May our Heavenly Father make it so… amen.
Now for some pics…
As I said, these are in no certain order and come from multiple countries and points in time. Jon, if you happen to see this post. I used the pic in the header from yesterday at church. I appreciate you and I enjoyed the message 🙂
