Wintertime

Winter's here!  So what if it's going to be 60 degrees on Christmas Eve?  My calendar tells me that this is the first full day of winter and that's that.  Wintertime, after all, is not just a manifestation of meteorological conditions, it's also a state of mind.

Wintertime as a mood can be depressing.  We can feel burdened by ice, snow, and unrelenting cold.  But it can also be freeing.  The time to hunker down, to cocoon, can be an opportunity to rest, to reflect, to be quiet and still.  We should take the chance when it arrives because before we know it, wintertime will give way to spring, bringing new life, new activity, new demands.  So, too, Christmas will arrive soon.  Soon but not yet.  Take these last moments of Advent to prepare, to pray, to get ready.

It's wintertime.  Thanks be to God!

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