Easter

So it's Easter. The most important and holy of the Christian holidays. Christmas is the one kids like the most, but Easter is the one that is most revered, for that is the day when Jesus rose from the death that cleaned away the sins of man and allowed for a personal relationship with God the Father. I might go into the pagan ties and the symbolism of secular Easter another time, but today, instead, I am looking at the Christian community.

We begin with one of my favorite Bible verses:

Above all, hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. - 1 Peter 4:8-9.

Most of the chapter is in this vein. The First Epistle of Peter (as it is formally known) is one of the letters to the young church in areas suffering from religious persecution, and so the message focuses repeatedly on the value of bearing that persecution with a heart of love and quiet strength, as many of the Epistles do. They're actually some of my favorite parts of the New Testament, since they give us a glimpse at the early church and can often be lined up with other historical records to give us an idea of when and where they were written from.

Anyway, back to the verse. I have serious issue with the Christian community as it currently exists on a wide scale and have distanced myself from it. I find my community elsewhere and my spiritual health is a private thing that involves very few other people. But I wonder, if the community focused more on verses like these in Peter (and elsewhere) rather than the litany of potential sins that crop up throughout the Bible, how much better of a world could have made and could they still make?

In fact, if we expand this to all religious texts, I am certain there are verses like this, that demand love and kindness to everyone. If followers of those texts focused on applying those verses to the world around them, and saved the expectations for what they see as "Godly" behavior (however it is defined for them) to themselves, perhaps we would find the world of love, charity, and kindness that would exemplify the kind of God I could get behind. And if I could find a community of believers that used this as their center, rather than that which damns them or makes them different from others, I might be able to find a community to be part of.

So long, 2010.

It's the New Year. I don't make resolutions because if I want to change something, I start when I think about it rather than wait, otherwise I lose my motivation. However, there are a few things I try to do every year.

Every year I try...

..to be a little healthier than the year before.

..to learn to do something new.

..to be a little more financially secure.

..to be happier in my relationships.

Just four things, not all that much. In 2010, I think I succeeded in all of them. I got my Fibromyalgia diagnosis, which means I've been able to be treated. I learned to knit and to write APA styled research papers. My debt continues to be chipped away without accruing new ones. And I am happier in my relationship with family and in my love life than I have been in my adult life. Not too shabby.

Though, I will say that 2010 flew by at warp speed. I think back to the milestones of the year and can not believe that they were 6, 8, 10 months ago. This holiday season was one of the least stressful I've had in a long time and I really got to enjoy it. So thank you to everyone who has been part of my 2010 and moves with me into my 2011. I can't wait to see what's coming!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Well, with the holidays and traveling, I haven't been able to post much. I was very lucky this week in that I hadn't planned to return to NY until Tuesday, so I missed the blizzard. However, less you think I was spared the joy that is snow in NY...

Tuesday evening, I was dropped off at the house and waded through knee deep snow carrying a suitcase to get into the house. I was supposed to leave this morning for VA to spend NY with the boyfriend, however the wall of snow between me and my car had other plans. Throughout the day I managed to clear the walkway (now I can get mail!), the driveway and the mountain at the end of the driveway caused by snowplows. However, my darling neighbors had been kind enough to snowblow the sidewalk for me so that I didn't have to do that as well. My back is killing me, but at least I worked off any calories from the last day or so. I'll drive down to VA tomorrow.

Christmas was fun. I saw a lot of family, some of whom it had been a very long time since I last saw. Got to spend a lot of time with my parents and sister. Kellie and I always find a way to connect every visit and reaffirm our very special relationship. Personal favorite though was seeing my beautiful godchildren, who are growing like weeds. The eldest in 9 and brilliant. Her parents and I were commiserating on how her being 9 makes us all feel old. I realized she'll be 16 by the time I am done having children. The other is 5 and the sweetest child who ever walked the planet. During Gulliver's Travels (which was actually really funny), he cuddled under my arm and apparently cried when I left.

Last year I decided to write letters more often and have established a wonderful pen pal relationship with my paternal grandmother. Since I rarely see her (she lives in Cali), it's been a great way for our relationship to be stronger. This year, in addition to that, I want to start writing the kids. The boy won't be able to write his own letters back yet, but his parents will help I'm sure. And then they can have something tangible from me (other than books - they get a lot of books).

A funny note to end on. When my sister told her husband (who is in Iraq) about meeting my boyfriend at Thanksgiving, he grew suspicious and protective. Of me! He has 3 sisters, so he's used to worrying after them, but he had decided to expand that to include me. Of course, once he meets the bf, he'll fall in love with him like everyone else, but in the mean time, he's suspicious. It's adorable. Pretty sure I'm not supposed to call him adorable, but if he gets to be a protective brother, I get to be a doting sister.

More Santa

Further musings on Santa Claus have taken me into the realm of "how do you explain Santa to children?" I have finally cornered it for me, I think.

Santa is what brings that which you can not get otherwise. If your parents can afford to buy you gifts, you shouldn't expect gifts from Santa under the tree. But keep your eye open and see if you can't spot Santa's gift. It won't come wrapped and probably will lack a bow. But somewhere, there is a gift from Santa in your season. All you have to do is watch for it.

This, by the way, is also why we can't pin the bugger down. He doesn't go to every house on Christmas Eve, only those who need it. Too many children in the world to get that done, even with magic on his side. No, Santa works all season long to get everyone their gifts.

"And remember, even the smallest envelope is heavy for an elf."

I'm catching up on last night's Glee and found myself rather taken aback. Britney is becoming one of my favorite characters, in part because she delivers a killer one liner and in part because of her innocence...okay and because of her relationship with Artie. It's beautiful to watch. In last night's episode, which is the Christmas episode, Britney still believes in Santa Claus and Artie (along with a bunch of helpers) goes through a lot of effort to help her retain that belief.

Do you remember when you stopped believing in Santa Claus?

I don't.

I'm not sure if I ever stopped believing. I don't think that dude in the mall is Santa and I'm not entirely sure I'm down with the whole breaking-and-entering concept. But I think the magic is real and that the belief in Santa is more the belief in magical things.

Sue's story is, as usual, both surprising and entertaining. She brings me to tears when she and Becky have their "It's beautiful" moment. The fact that it follows the Grinch arch only makes it better - since I was a child, the two Christmas traditions that endure at my parent's is Luke 2 and the Grinch. It's not Christmas without it.

Also, the best song of the episode is Curt and Blaine doing "Baby It's Cold Outside". I picked it up on iTunes, really beautiful song.

The Santa Clause and Christmases Past

I've watched The Santa Clause one and a half times tonight (I caught it halfway through the first time). This is one of those movies that my sister, father and I kinda wore out when it came out - watched it over and over. I can still recite most of the movie, it turns out.

The movie is cheesy, but so much fun. I actually like all three of them. Maybe it's Christmas movies. Somehow, Christmas always seems much less complicated in movies, doesn't it? Even when they tackle the stress of Christmas, it always works out. Of course, that's the point of movies. Happy endings to make life a little more fun and maybe provide hope.

As a kid, Christmas was kinda stressful. In California, there was always the going between Grandma and Grandpa's houses. You couldn't take presents from Grandpa's house into Grandma's because if she asked about the presents, you'd have to mention Grandpa which was verbotten. There were also trips up the mountain to my uncle's house. When we went to Oklahoma for Christmas (every other year or so), we drove so there was at least a day on either side of the trip and often stops along the way to see friends and family in Arizona. When we moved to Oklahoma, we had the same in reverse, though with added trips in California to see friends we had left behind.

It took a long time for me to find magic in Christmas again. I got a taste of it in Korea (of all things) when Brendan and I had a snowy Christmas walk through the base. It was beautiful, especially considering how much I disliked Korea. We had a great Christmas here in NY with my parents when they came to visit a few years ago. And the next year, Christmas was quiet, spent with friends working in a soup kitchen and then having a quiet soup at their house.

Those small moments have slowly been reclaiming Christmas in my view. Less something to dread and more and more something to be excited about. I'll be in Oklahoma this year - first time in a decade. And since my brother-in-law is in the sandbox, it will be me, my sister and my parents for the last time. In the future there are in-laws and kids and while those will be wonderful, this is the last time in this part of our lives. I'm really excited.

It's December!

So it's December and in NY we were greeted with a rain and windstorm that was impressive. Wind howled, rain poured and Indy hid his face in the blankets all day.

I picked up Christmas cards today. They're pretty, I like them. Over 70 to send out this year, so I'm hoping to get a good tackle on them once I'm caught up on school stuff. My research project isn't coming along as well as I want, so I'm hoping to get a little extension to collect data. Biology is moving along and, unexpectedly, I'm caught up in Logic. I'm just ready for this semester to be over.

Practical Magic has been on Oxygen tonight and I've watched it twice. I discovered this movie at DLI with my roommate, who remains one of my favorite people from the military even though we haven't spoken in quite awhile. It's the bond between sisters that I find so alluring. And it always impressed me that the sisters have red and brown hair. My mom is a red-head and her sister is a brunette, as are me and my sister when we haven't messed with nature. And I've always had a special relationship with my aunt so that relationship in the movie is enjoyable for me. Too, there's something magical about the relationships women form with each other and the movie highlights and magnifies those.

So, holidays are in full swing. I want to decorate a little, even though I won't be here most of the month. Not a lot of sense in getting a tree given that, but I can at least hang a wreath and maybe some lights. Ahh, Christmas...

Happy Thanksgiving

In a few short hours, I will be heading to the airport. Oh yes, it's beyond absurd. But with the threats of holiday travel being ridiculous, I figure it's better to nap in the airport than miss my flight. So at 3 am, I will be leaving for a 6 am flight to Oklahoma via Chicago.

And I am excited.

I am so excited to see my family. To introduce them to my man, to let him meet them. To see my sister, who I haven't seen since she changed from Miss to Mrs. Sadly, her husband won't be joining us as he's spending the holidays in the sandbox. But we think of him often and fondly.

The flights are miserable - clearly no one important has ever had to fly between New York and Oklahoma or they would have done something about this. Also, JetBlue doesn't fly there, so double sad. The high (high!) is going to be in the 30s. But I don't care. I get to see my family. I get one step closer to adding the man I love to my family.

And that's what the holidays are about.