We all have our favorite Christmas films, the ones that stir good cheer and remind us of family and home. But what of Advent, the season that culminates in that celebration? What films capture the painful waiting, struggle for peace, and desperation for change that often accompany this period before the joy? Alfonso Cuarón’s violent, R-rated Children of Men (2006) […]
Let’s do keep Christ in Christmas
At this ancient Solstice time, when the great trees are honored (with the conifer in the living room), and the power of fire and return of the sun is invoked (with the burning of candles and the splashes of electric lights on our houses), the birth of Jesus, great dissident and rebel, is celebrated by many. In our present era of mind-numbing consumerism, […]
Time
Five years ago, my beloved grandfather passed away. I have a reoccurring, monthly dream that he is “back” for a visit. It is so real that I can see the lines on his tan, leathery, face and smell the fish residue on his hands. I just keep hugging him and holding him, realizing that he is only here for a short time and then he is returning to heaven. I feel panicky, but grateful. I know that our time with him is an unexpected gift, and I don’t quite know what to do with it. I wake up feeling sad, but blessed.
Postcard to the Magi
It snowed the winter I moved to Cannon Beach. When I made my final trip to the Oregon coast the day before Christmas, it looked like the beach in winter dressed for the holiday season. Twinkle lights and mock snow drifts surrounding shop windows, haloed street lights tousled with circled boughs of cedar; the scene had all the visuals of a winter-set romance or a cozy mystery prowled by a granny sleuth. It looked like Christmas all right, but my spirits failed to lift and all I wanted to do was park, unload the boxes of books, take my dog Banjo for a stretching walk and hold to my plans.