On the Eighth Day of a Feminine Christmas

There’s something so sacred about this image. I’m touched by gentle expressions on the brothers’ faces. No doubt they are pausing from their vibrating excitement and slowing down just long enough for their mother to light a Christmas candle by the window.

We were often taught to take a breather during the Christmas season by our church which never failed to remind us of the nativity and its message. So too, the Christmas carols we sang both, in our public school and at Mass, nudged us back to the now inherent knowledge we were taught. This, even amidst the rivaling toy commercials on television, the hyped Santa’s and elves in every store and Elvis’ Blue Christmas piped into the outdoor shopping mall nearby. Today I am still amazed and grateful for the ways our majestic Catholic church and our public elementary school supported each other’s endeavors and mingled our holiday activities and philosophies.

But back to the hallowed moment above caught behind a charming leaded window. Mother’s plaid skirt and warm sweater are of a simpler time. Can you imagine today’s influencers staging such a family moment without a blingy outfit, long flowing tresses and the latest designer makeup? I can’t and that’s why I love this image so much.

The window reminds me of the large living room picture window in our home growing up. Each year my mother would spray white “snow” to look like drifts in the corner of each pane of glass. For years, it looked out onto the two maple trees in our front yard and a just-beyond empty field. A roving light floated across the sky above the field all night which a department store a few miles away used to make sure no one forgot them during the shopping season. Of course, it mesmerized us but the light I most looked for out that window, was the Star of Bethlehem, the celestial body that guided the Magi to Jesus. So much of our Christmas was filled with scripture and lore and we embraced it all. This picture reminds me of that again – the boys’ soft smiles, Mother guiding them to the light, the simple white candle beckoning in the darkness just as Bethlehem’s star did so long ago. And that window, through which this little family could search beyond for their own Christmas imaginings is the very same one we can now look through to see the world’s greatest event etched on their faces…