Outside Giraffe, we spot the dynamic sight of another boy just about the age of my own child. The kids begin playing with one another, talking quite a bit about the wonders generated by the Lego company, their colorful clothing glowing in the sunlight of an early winter afternoon on Vashon. The boy's father Ken and I begin to talk. Ken came from a background where he celebrates Christmas; his wife celebrates her Jewish heritage and Hannukah. For this father, the holiday season becomes a time to get intentional about how he really wants to celebrate and he watches as this time period becomes easier and more satisfying.
"I'm really feeling a level of curiosity and acceptance as well as clarity about what is important to me now."
He speaks of how he once felt, as he did similar events every year, that he was coasting. His talk and gentle company reminds me of how the holiday season is becoming a time of creation for me. My son and I are living near a woman and a man whose grandkids live far away, and these two neighbors have become like family to us. We delight in visiting their houses and in serving them as we can, and they do the same for us. We decorate a huge Blue Spruce tree with ornament after ornament, and illuminate it all with lights. We share food and stories and the warmth of the season, and both my son Sam and I are so grateful for their company.
I am beginning to see how the human heart expands and expands and expands, and how its true nature is flexibility, openness and the acceptance of grace, and the holidays give us a perfect time to see this beauty in action.
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