About this time every year, I start wishing for a few things. For one, I want to be Catholic. Or some kind of high church thing. I want to sing "O Come Emmanuel" in Latin while incense burns. But it needs to be so ineffably meaningful that even my having written about it right now would spoil it. This is the same impulse that compelled me to take my mom and sisters and brother-in-law to midnight mass at St. Cecilia's at few years ago. We didn't know it would last two hours. They were good sports. For two, I want to read Christmas stories that make the whole thing new and wonderful again. I think these desires both stem from grown-up experiences of Christmas that can never live up to the glory of childhood Christmases. It's like Charlie Brown says, "I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel."
My solution to the adult Christmas blues is to pay more attention to advent. "Surely," I reason, "if I anticipate Christmas more, it will mean more." Usually what happens is that when I'm supposed to be grading (like right now), instead I read Christmas stories and work on my annual Christmas mix. And then when I really am home, I stop reading Christmas stories and thinking about Advent and sort of slip into filmy-headed family mode. I'm hoping this year I can keep my wits about me and be present and see Advent through.
But in any case, I really like two Christmas stories I've read so far this year. The first is John Cheever's "Christmas Is a Sad Time for the Poor," which I found to be quite funny, despite its pathetic title. The second is John Updike's "The Carol Sing," which opens with these wonderful lines: "Surely one of the natural wonders of Tarbox was Mr Burley at the Town Hall carol sing. How he would jubilate, how he would God-rest those merry gentlemen, how he would boom out when the male voices became Good King Wenceslas."
There's also the fun of saying "Oh, my! It's fruitcake weather, Buddy!" And you can read all about that here.
And there's Patty Kirk's The Gospel of Christmas, which is her collection of Christmas essay. It is wonderful and it gets at all of my and Charlie Brown's and everyone's Christmas longing. It won't come out in next year, but I have an advanced reader's copy. If you would like to read it, you can think about how my mentioning it has doubled your Advent anticipation.
Any favorite Christmas stories? Or fantasies?
Ok. I really should grade now.
3 comments:
i would like to say right now that your patty kirk trick was mean!! mean, i say!!! i was gonna speed order it on my amazon account. butt!
do i have any christmas fantasties?! hahahaha.
i loved this post, ali. i didn't know about the midnight mass. oh but how wonderful it must have been (at first). i'm going to a sing-along @ st. paul's church here in peoria. it should be lovely. i think my kids will enjoy it as well.
my christmas hope: to keep this month moving SLOWLY. and so far, it is going that way. it's so wonderful when travel isn't involved. everyday since returning from thanksgiving trip, i wake up and say to myself, "i don't feel like going anywhere", so we haven't!! it's too cold. and i like being inside this house.
hope to see you soon!!
haha. that was a mean trick with kirk's book of christmas essays. how about this: when it is out, i'll send you one to make up for it.
does your Christmas fantasy involve a version of "Santa Baby"? you can be honest.
not going anywhere sounds so nice. i look forward to the day when finals are over and i don't have to immediately travel. but the prospect of getting to see you makes it all worthwhile. we will travel for each other!! dreams do come true!
Good to have you back in blog land sis! It's as if you were a part of my discussion with Isaac last night on my desire to read Christmas stories this year and taht I wish I knew of some that weren't "A Christmas Carol." I'm tired of that and now I have a list (thanks to you) of some excellent options. Miss and love you and as always, appreciating your thoughtful and well written posts.
Post a Comment