Do I hafta?

Sunday December 4, 2011 Today I must, can, outta, should, will put up the Christmas tree, decorate the house, write some Christmas cards,and make a list of presents to give to those I usually give gifts to. Yet, as I watch the overly commercialized season unwrap, the only real twinkling lights that flash in my mind spell out: DO I HAFTA?

No one has ever accused me of being Martha Stewart. I once wrote a little blurb in our church newsletter about how not worrying about 'getting things done' at Christmas actually enriched my holiday rather than frustrated my Yuletide experience. Nice try Karen. Not going to work this time. Sighing my 'way-to familiar' sigh, I knew I needed motivation from a different angle (angel?) this year. I was once given and really enjoyed the book, "Skipping Christmas". Even though I got the message then, I felt I still needed a fresh pep talk this year. As usual, the Spirit did not disappoint!"

The December issue of Catholic Digest had an article "What my Jewish students taught me about Christmas." that is now nudging me through this holiday. The author viewed the Christmas season as a laundry list of empty chores that only kept her from her usual daily routine. She would either disappoint others if she neglected Christmas or would disappoint herself if she made a mockery of what was supposed to be a season of faith and commitment. Then one day her class discussed a story about Eleizer, a young boy in a concentration camp who had witnessed the hanging of a boy younger than he. Eliezer quit believing in God and refused to pray on Yom Kippur, the way he used to. "I was alone--terribly alone in a world without God. I stood amid that praying congregation, observing it like a stranger." The kids discussed whether or not he should have prayed anyway, or if it was hypocritical to do so.

One child replied, "No, The Torah tells you to follow God's rituals even when they make no sense. It's called, 'Na'aseh V' Nishma'--We will act and we will understand. First you do the acts, then you'll understand God. If Eliezer had observed the holiday, he might have recovered some faith." (Well) you also have to read the Torah to understand the symbolism of the acts and think about it."

The teacher went home, pulled out the Christmas lights and decorated her ficus tree with the traditional little white lights. Then she went and pulled out her Bible and started to read. "With each task during the holiday season, she continued to read the Old Testament filled with characters who were 'flawed and floundered in their faith--just like me, yet, chosen'."

On Christmas Eve, she sat down and read "God's final promise to the Jewish people: 'See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then suddenly the LORD you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come.'"

She wrote that the Lord did come at Christmas Eve mass. Everything that the angels saw, she saw. Her final words in the article were: "I gazed through the window at the dark cloudless night, the countless winking stars, Na'aseh V'Nishma. I had acted and, finally, I understood."

So, todayI started to quietly pull out the cards from the cupboard, the decorations from the closet, and the gift list from my memory. As each act of decorating must be accompanied by an attempt to understand those acts, I left a commentary on Isaiah, and several Christmas magazine issues near my chair. Acting and trying to understand the whys of those actions will take me to the manger with more awe than ever?

Yes, this time I smiled at those twinkling lights that spell out , " I HAFTA!!"