Welcome Christmas

The gray fades to black quickly this time of year. Clouds transform into grey-cast silhouettes reflecting the pale fleeting rays of the day. Twinkles emerge to illuminate the steel blue, prettier than any Christmas tree. A fractured moon's reflection dances off the whitecaps that still thunder
at the jetty. But their crash is just a whisper in the silence that reigns over the surf lapping hungrily at the shore. Night air steams from my breath but the still breeze hides its chill. In the distance, the forlorn bellow of a buoy warns the dark of unseen danger. The world fades softly into the pitch darkness leaving the winter sky as its master. The ocean calls to my melancholy
heart.

Reflections of the year swim by, each as fleeting as the surf. Of what has been done and what has failed to be, all ebbing in sync with the tide. Woulda, coulda, shouldas bring salty tears to my cheeks, quickly dismissed as the rosy-nose cold and not anything nostalgic. But the misty sparkle in my eyes remains, blurring the deepening night thoughts that reign over the aloneness.

With each passing moment the darkness deepens till the background is but a faded memory. But with each twinkle of hope, the darkness becomes brighter as the joy of Christmas fills the void. Wondrous stories and hymns of adoration fill the darkness with anticipation. Of love, of laughs, and family enjoying each crinkled wrapper and clink of toasted glass. We eagerly await the coming of Christ into our world. Although he's been here all along, we now pause on bent knee to give thanks and praise for all that was and will be.

Welcome Christmas.