I was awake early as usual - but the family are still asleep as I write and the special events of the day have hardly begun.
Therefore, I have a sense of anticipation - which is my dominant emotion concerning the lead-in to Christmas (which is the main thing about it - since it lasts so much longer than the day). Meanwhile, I have been thinking and noting; and dipping-into books while I wait - the Tolkien biography by Carpenter, Para Handy stories by Neil Munro, and a Christmas stocking filler about eccentric English clergy.
But things will begin to happen very soon.
So, a Happy Christmas to my readers and commenters, known and not-known; and to the Romantic Christian 'group' of (mostly, but not entirely) co-bloggers who provide my online and international equivalent of The Inklings: an audience, critical appreciation, a sense of shared purpose.
I hope that I and you who read this will be able to discover within ourselves the right attitude and attributes to make the most and the best of today.
For me, my powers of response and personal capabilities have - for most of my life - been the "limiting factor"; rather than external and imposed circumstances. This feels like a great blessing. But others may have the excuse of blaming their situation for their limitations - I don't.
But whatever has been done, so long as we are sustained alive - there is more to be done, more that needs to be done; or, accurately, more things to learn.
To learn even on Christmas Day - especially on Christmas Day. Things will happen-to each of us from-now; life will bring-us experiences - so our job is to be aware, to notice and discern, to choose and take responsibility for our choosing.
A Happy Christmas is a fulfilled Christmas.
