Christmas is forever 

Everyone is a child at Christmas.  Every year we all revert back to the days of excitement and wonder. Our journey in childhood is aided by colors and lights and smells of the Christmas season.  I remember when one of the special parts of Christmas was the yearly tradition of handmade decorations.  The process of transformation from everyday home into a winner wonderland had a personal touch.  The tree topper was made from a recycled cereal box that was either painted or simply covered with tinfoil (and later aluminum foil). The ornaments on the tree was sometimes hand carved from thin scraps of wood. Construction paper chains served as garland. One of my childhood friends would go out in the woods and collect acorns in the Fall and paint them for use as ornaments. Whatever the process and materials used it was the bonding of friends and family that made the memory.  Today we have projectors and lasers and inflatable Santas that are produced on an assembly line (probably by robots soon) and then sold in the stores.  Our modern plug and play Christmas provides us with a great deal of splendor but how much spirit?  Time is of great value in our busy lives.  The “Christmas Rush” is on and in a lot of lives the pressures of earning a living shows no mercy.  Time is the most valuable resource we have.  It’s a resource that we can possess but not own.  However,  I have learned that it is in fact entirely possible to freeze time.  Not through some contrivance of technology or secret of the ancient Magi but through the simple act of bonding with friends and family.  This year I encourage you to incorporate some homemade Christmas in with the technological splendor.  The time you spend with your loved ones is the greatest gift you can give.