Simpler This Season

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.

—2 Thessalonians 3:16

The irony must not be lost on us: a season that is, at its heart, a love story—about faith and fragility, angels, a baby, a star—gets lost so easily in a jarring, toxic tangle of sugar and shopping bags and rushing and parking lots and expectations.

In our lowest, most fragmented moments, we feel out of control—we feel controlled, in fact, by expectations and to-do lists and commitments and traditions. It’s that time of year, we shrug, when things get a little crazy. No avoiding it.

But that’s not true. And that’s shifting the blame. We have, each one of us, been entrusted with one life, made up of days and hours and minutes. We’re spending them according to our values, whether or not we admit it.

My friends from high school always get together at Christmas and build gingerbread houses with all our kids. One year, two of us had sick kids. I had a newborn. One was working full-time in a new position. One was nine months pregnant. As the e-mails swirled around, finally Courtney said, “I love you all so much—enough to let tradition slide this year in order to keep things simpler this season.” Ah, yes. Yes. Yes.