Vera's first birthday party is on Saturday. My husband and I, as usual, selected an esoteric theme for it: music. What can be done? We're conceptual people. After all kinds of (positive) madness this past month, I finally cleared time to buckle down and get to planning the event this week. Thankfully, Evite is so user-friendly that at least the invites got sent out ahead of time!
This morning, Vera's grandparents were gracious enough to babysit her for the day while I tried to make the bulk of my purchases for the party. Local grandparents - what a blessing! I carefully combed through the Teacher Supply store by our house (that place is such an educational wonderland - I can't wait until V gets a little older...I know, you're thinking "poor Vera!"). Anyway, I was able to locate some educational music posters and music note cut-outs in the remote corners of the store. The selection at the next stop, Party City, proved even more meager-mostly inappropriate 50's, 70's, 80's, Idol music themed adult party equipment.
When I finally got to Michael's, I was hopeful. "It's Christmas season," I thought, "There are bound to be angels with trumpets and harps and all kinds of representations of heavenly music from the Christmas story." What I found were styrofoam holly with plastic leaves, lots of bears dressed up in scarves and hats, smiley snowmen, and candy galore. Not a single trumpet, harp or bell in sight, and this was a big Michael's in the city of Irvine!
I could write about how music education and appreciation has degenerated into Top 10 Lists and American Idol, but I won't. What saddened me far more was the loss of Christmas. I wondered as I wandered (get it? HAHA), what sense of awe children in today's relativistic, humanistic society, could possibly glean from celebrating Christmas. Dressed up bears and men in red suits, with lots of candy in the mix, amounts to nothing but the American Halloween - a novel opportunity to dress ourselves up and indulge in some escapist behavior. But Christmas! Christmas is about the wonder of a star shining SO brightly that it impressed shepherds who regularly navigated by the stars. It is a night when the heavens opened up and music poured forth in joyful heavenly chorus. It is about a flurry of angelic messengers, appearing left and right in the years and months leading up to that night. It is about the ancient wisdom and divine revelation that somehow led three sages from the Far East to a small town in the Middle East, seeking a King laid in a barn. Ultimately, it is about a love so strong, that the Lover could no longer bear to be apart from His Beloved. Instead, He willed to humble Himself and suffer this earthly existence in order to take away her burden of ages past. Christmas is no escape. It is no bandage temporarily applied to our weary lives. It offers life itself to those who will look upon it's mystery and beauty. By comparison, how paltry and lifeless was the scene at Michael's today! Why do we trade the privilege of looking upon heaven itself for street scenes and plaster snowflakes? I don't know, but I'd better ask myself what plaster snowflakes I'm clutching while missing the real deal.
This morning, Vera's grandparents were gracious enough to babysit her for the day while I tried to make the bulk of my purchases for the party. Local grandparents - what a blessing! I carefully combed through the Teacher Supply store by our house (that place is such an educational wonderland - I can't wait until V gets a little older...I know, you're thinking "poor Vera!"). Anyway, I was able to locate some educational music posters and music note cut-outs in the remote corners of the store. The selection at the next stop, Party City, proved even more meager-mostly inappropriate 50's, 70's, 80's, Idol music themed adult party equipment.
When I finally got to Michael's, I was hopeful. "It's Christmas season," I thought, "There are bound to be angels with trumpets and harps and all kinds of representations of heavenly music from the Christmas story." What I found were styrofoam holly with plastic leaves, lots of bears dressed up in scarves and hats, smiley snowmen, and candy galore. Not a single trumpet, harp or bell in sight, and this was a big Michael's in the city of Irvine!
I could write about how music education and appreciation has degenerated into Top 10 Lists and American Idol, but I won't. What saddened me far more was the loss of Christmas. I wondered as I wandered (get it? HAHA), what sense of awe children in today's relativistic, humanistic society, could possibly glean from celebrating Christmas. Dressed up bears and men in red suits, with lots of candy in the mix, amounts to nothing but the American Halloween - a novel opportunity to dress ourselves up and indulge in some escapist behavior. But Christmas! Christmas is about the wonder of a star shining SO brightly that it impressed shepherds who regularly navigated by the stars. It is a night when the heavens opened up and music poured forth in joyful heavenly chorus. It is about a flurry of angelic messengers, appearing left and right in the years and months leading up to that night. It is about the ancient wisdom and divine revelation that somehow led three sages from the Far East to a small town in the Middle East, seeking a King laid in a barn. Ultimately, it is about a love so strong, that the Lover could no longer bear to be apart from His Beloved. Instead, He willed to humble Himself and suffer this earthly existence in order to take away her burden of ages past. Christmas is no escape. It is no bandage temporarily applied to our weary lives. It offers life itself to those who will look upon it's mystery and beauty. By comparison, how paltry and lifeless was the scene at Michael's today! Why do we trade the privilege of looking upon heaven itself for street scenes and plaster snowflakes? I don't know, but I'd better ask myself what plaster snowflakes I'm clutching while missing the real deal.
I'm off to bed. Have I completed my 10 Things I'm Thankful for Today list yet? (For those following the Depression/Anxiety strain of this blog, this is another very powerful tool) Let's see, I'm thankful for 1) Music 2) Local Grandparents 3) Evite, Blogspot and other handy Internet tools 4) Our local Teacher Supply Store (hoping it stays in business for a long time!) 5) Herald Angels singing 6) Shepherds who Heard on High 7) Christ Away in a manger 8) [They] Three Kings of Orient 9) What came Upon a Midnight Clear 10) and finally, the beauty I get to witness every day in the people and earth around me.
Don't worry about Vera's party. It's going to be a blast. I managed to cull together lots of supplies, and we're going to have a Wish Book Station; a Make-Vera-a-Future-Bday-Card station (so she has a card made on her first bday every year until she's 18); a Photo Station; a Musical Play Area and lots of great food, and even more fun activities and games. My family and I are really excited for Saturday!
Don't worry about Vera's party. It's going to be a blast. I managed to cull together lots of supplies, and we're going to have a Wish Book Station; a Make-Vera-a-Future-Bday-Card station (so she has a card made on her first bday every year until she's 18); a Photo Station; a Musical Play Area and lots of great food, and even more fun activities and games. My family and I are really excited for Saturday!
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