“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”
John Lennon said that. It resonates because there is truth in it. If we change one word, we uncover another – possibly even deeper – truth.
It’s hard for me to imagine a busier month than December.
My youngest daughter has single-handedly instituted a family tradition that just finished its second year. (It’s that second year that officially makes it a tradition, I presume.)
During the season of Advent, each of us is assigned certain days to be an “Advent Buddy” for someone else in the family. Then, each day, one person opens a small gift from their Advent Buddy, which must be either something homemade or some act of kindness you pledge to do for them, like taking over one of their chores for a day.
To be honest, it’s a lot, especially with all three kids celebrating birthdays between November 30 and December 19. Adding one more meatball to the overflowing plate always feels unnecessarily overwhelming.
And yet, it’s Ginny’s love language, and there’s a homeschooling benefit as well. She devises the schedule that feels as complicated as a professional sports league, which requires a lot of thought and attention to detail. This year, she even enlisted ChatGPT for help with assignments. Plus, it’s a real joy to see what little, personalized gifts everyone comes up with for one another.
Last year, I made the tiny Saint cutouts in the photo, inspired by the old school Fisher-Price Little People. I did something similar this year, paired with a rosary in which I asked a Saint for a specific intention for each Advent Buddy.
Yes, it’s extra work during an extra busy season. But I’m always glad we did it. And I’m grateful to Ginny for the nudge.
In the end, that’s what Advent and Christmas are all about: Love.
Sometimes love is inconvenient.
It insists we slow down and step off the hamster wheel once in a while.
It demands thought, which requires attention and time, our two most valuable resources.
It calls for sacrifice.
The month of December is filled with good things. In a season that finds us singing carols, baking cookies, buying and wrapping gifts, decorating our homes with wreaths and trees and lights and mangers, and attending a wide variety of beautiful liturgies, this new tradition may be the one thing we do that most represents the truest meaning of Christmas.
And it’s a good reminder to hold close as we start a new year.
As our calendars fill up, our busyness builds, and we resume our routines of doing any number of very good things, let’s not forget that sometimes love is inconvenient.
It insists we slow down and step off the hamster wheel once in a while.
It demands thought, which requires attention and time, our two most valuable resources.
It calls for sacrifice.
Indeed, it seems fitting that we should paraphrase Mr. Lennon…
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