Christmas Cards

Every December when the Christmas cards start coming in the mail, I am drawn back to Christmases past when I was growing up. I have a vivid memory of sitting at the dining room table with my Dad to my left, one of my brothers to my right, Mom at the end of the table, and the other two brothers across the table. Yes, we had assigned seats. Being the lefty in the family, I needed that corner. We won't get into the left-handed issues here - that is another blog for another time.

We sat at the table for dinner, as we did almost every night, and once the dishes were cleared and the freshly-baked Christmas cookies passed around the table, Dad would begin opening the Christmas cards we had received that day in the mail. He would read each one silently, maybe making a comment or two about the sender or the card, then the card was passed to me. Unless it had a beautiful scene or a funny caption or it came from overseas, and if I didn't know the sender, I would quickly pass it on. 

AND, if there was the annual Christmas epistle included, I DEFINITELY was not going to take time to read that. I was confident that if there was some bit of good news or bad news, Mom was going to comment on it when the card and letter made it to her. Quite often, we four boys had no idea who these people were that Mom and Dad were talking about, but we sat and passed the cards as they came to us. 

I can still recall those conversations about friends moving, new children arriving, family vacations and celebrations, as well as illnesses and deaths. The question was asked at least once a night, "Did we send THEM a card?" or "Did we get a card from them last year?" And sometimes it was, "Who is this?" Then the cards were placed in a wicker basket and placed by the Christmas tree, so when our extended family would come for the holidays, they could look through the cards as well.

Mom and Dad had a system. Dad had a box of index cards with names and addresses on them. When a friend moved, the card was updated by crossing out the old information and adding the new below it. On the back of the card was a list of years, followed by letters "S" and "R"- sent and received. Each year, the cards were scrutinized carefully, and if you haven't sent a card in the past two or three years, there may be a real possibility you would NOT be receiving the annual Woodward Letter, sent on colored paper and carefully detailing the activities of each of us boys, our family travels and information about extended family as well. Believe me, this was information you didn't want to miss!

I still enjoy receiving Christmas cards. We hang them up on the hallway door and give thanks for the greetings and news we receive. And now we receive emails and electronic letters too. I know that the letters and cards we receive do not contain all the joys and sorrows our friends and loved ones have experienced in the past year, but embedded in each one, there is a contact, a connection, a memory. These are gifts from God.

And I find my wife and I having the same conversations Mom and Dad had over the dinner table years ago. "Did you see that the Smiths are moving?" "Can you believe their daughter is in the eighth grade?" "Did we send them a card this year?" 

Thanks be to God for our friends and loved ones who take the time to send us these greetings. The news we receive and the memories it brings are things I cherish this season.

Peace,

Pastor Charlie

TWO MORE THINGS:
1. The blog is taking a long winters' nap and will be back on January 8th. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
2. I hope you get to church for Christmas Eve service this year, wherever you may be come December 24. From a sister congregation in Des Moines, Iowa, here is their invitation to worship for Christmas Eve. If you can't make it to Des Moines, know you are welcomed here!