mikao's world

so this is Christmas

another Christmas almost over. it's just after 11pm here in Alberta, but my blogger clock will say it's tomorrow already as it's on Saskatchewan time.

i can't believe it is Christmas Day. seems like last Christmas was not so very long ago. i remember last year thinking that this year i probably wouldn't be home December 25, 2002, yet here i am. i wonder what december 25, 2003 will be like. is this our last big family Christmas? where will i be next december? where will my younger sister and brother be next december? i guess we will only know then.

it was nice to have the whole family home for time together and for a big traditional Christmas dinner... turkey, my mom's good salad with cream dressing, turnips, whipped potatoes, homemade gravy, peas, corn, crabapple jelly, homemade buns, etc. i always find it interesting what people have for their Christmas dinner because there are always such different things that we ourselves consider to be an essential of Christmas while really it is our own family preference and tradition that deems it so.

the "magic of Christmas"... somehow is lost on me this year. how has our Saviour's birth become so morphed and changed over the years?

Oh holy night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn

Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine, oh night, oh night divine
- "Oh Holy Night," traditional Christmas Carol
Words by Chappeau de Roquemaure
Translated by John S. Dwight