Christmas has always been special for me though not in the usual way. Since I was a teenager, I haven’t always enjoyed giving or getting gifts. When I make too much of it, it can feel like pressure. Daniel and I have a limited practice of Christmas gift giving. We prefer to give whenever we find a gift that seems to need giving.
Reading Frederica Harris Thompsett’s Courageous Incarnation In Intimacy, Work, Childhood, and Aging (published by Cowley, but now out of print) helped me to understand why Christmas is so special to me as an Episcopalian. Frederica provides a beautiful and practical articulation of how we live with the Incarnation everyday and celebrate God in us at Christmas:
Anglicans are recognized for the emphasis and attention they give to the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation. This indispensable Anglican tenet is built upon the New Testament witness of a God in Christ who came to live among us as God and as human. … As early as 1623, when Anglicans moved to the [Puritan] Massachusetts Bay Colony, authorities responded to this unwelcome group by forbidding the celebration of Christmas (p. 8).
Daniel and I had a great Christmas day, joining four co-grandparents and one great grandmother at Jen and Scott’s house. When four of us weren’t on kitchen 
or Lucas-holding duty, we played baseball with Zac, who as usual told each of us what position to play.
Our friend Mary joined us at the beach house before Christmas; we had great conversations about our forty year friendship. I can’t resist including this picture of our two-month old Luc flirting with her.
We were packing to leave the beach this morning when we realized that we could stay one more day and still make it to Boston for my doctor’s appointment on Thursday. We had some big waves today. It was a blessing to get one more ocean filled day and one more beach sunset.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU. We are looking forward to a wondrous 2006. Thank you for your prayers and your friendship this year.
Love the picture of me holding Luc. Will treasure it. Will send my old-fashioned film pics when I finish out the roll at Blanco this week-end.
We'll all consider this a Happy New Year! because we've been together.
MA
Posted by: Mary Austin Newman | December 29, 2005 at 08:44 PM