How To Be Fully Present This Christmas

How to Be Fully Present This Christmas

From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.

John 1:16

If you were to Drop by our home some evening in the days leading up to Christmas, you might find us huddled in the living room with popcorn and blankets watching one of the predictable classics. In fact, most years we’ll watch at least portions of A Christmas Story. And invariably, as a particular scene is about to unfold, we’ll start saying something along the lines of, “Oh, no! Here it comes!” It’s where the kids are gathered at a school playground on a snowy day and one child tells a story about a kid who got his tongue stuck to the flagpole. On a triple-dog-dare, one of the children, Flick, agrees to put his tongue on the flagpole, and it actually sticks. Flick screams, “Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!” All the children abandon Flick, retreating into the warm classroom.

As class resumes, the teacher realizes Flick is missing. She asks where he is, but no one confesses. Finally, one girl points out the window. The teacher recoils in horror as she sees Flick’s tongue frozen to the pole.

After help from the firemen and police, Flick somberly walks into the room with a bandaged tongue, and the teacher addresses the class with a shaming tone: “Now, I know that some of you put Flick up to this, but he has refused to say who. But those who did it know their blame, and I’m sure that the guilt you feel is far worse than any punishment you might receive. Now don’t you feel terrible? Don’t you feel remorse for what you’ve done? That’s all I’m going to say about poor Flick.”

Still, no one confesses. Everyone sits silently, but we hear Ralphie (the main character) as he silently muses: Adults loved to say stuff like that, but kids knew better. Kids knew darn well it was always better not to get caught.

Truth be told, most adults feel the same way. Why confess, we reason, if no one will know otherwise? The reason is that confessing our regret brings a tremendous release, especially when it involved something we did or said that hurt the person we love. Confession empowers us to move beyond our past and live fully in the present. And isn’t that what you want for you and your relationship this Christmas?

Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved.

—Ralphie in A Christmas Story