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TODAY’S ADVENT CALENDAR features blue — the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the shortest day of the year. Some people refer to this evening as “Blue Christmas.”
This post originally appeared at Patheos in 2012.
Window 21
My father prized his collection of blue Christmas lights and decorations. It was a peculiar fancy of his, part rebellion against tradition, a sort of festive statement that my mother ruefully tolerated. Unlike every other house on the block, most of which twinkled with colored lights, our house was covered in blue Christmas lights.
Each year, mother pointed out that a few of the nicest houses had white lights, something she thought elegant and tasteful, but my father ignored her and soldiered on with his blue display. He outlined the azalea bushes with blue lights, the roofline shone blue, and the Japanese maple was decked in blue. One year, he created a massive Christmas tree out of the blue lights and hoisted it up the flagpole while the neighbors cheered and admired his ingenuity. It lasted about three days, until a freak windstorm took it down.
On our door hung a flocked wreath with blue Christmas balls and silver ribbons. When I was quite small, we had an aluminum tree covered in blue and silver ornaments. Eventually, my mother won an indoor victory—by the time my sister was born, we had a “traditional” green artificial tree instead. Somehow, she convinced him that the tree should have cheerful, multi-colored lights and other decorations as a counterpoint to the muted, modern display outside.
One cold night, just a few days before Christmas, when I was about seven, I stayed outside with dad as he finished putting up the lights. Night enveloped us as he draped the final strings over the eaves, the brittle-blue looking a little like icicles in the moonlight. He came down the ladder and stood back. Together, we admired his handiwork.
“Daddy,” I asked, “why are our lights blue?”
It started to snow, very lightly. He took my hand.
“Because it is peaceful,” he said. “And it looks pretty when it snows.”
We stood in silence. He was right.
From Patheos, December 1, 2012
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
— Christina Rossetti
On this long night. . . .
We are mindful that greed, exploitation, and hatred
lengthens its shadow over our small planet Earth.
As our ancestors feared death and evil and the depth of winter,
we fear that war, discrimination, and selfishness
may doom us and our planet to an eternal winter.
May we find hope in the candles and flames we kindle on this sacred night,
hope in one another and in all who form the web-work of peace and justice
that spans the world.
In the heart of every person on this Earth
burns the spark of luminous goodness;
no heart is totally frozen.
May we who have celebrated this winter solstice,
by our lives and service, by our prayers and passion,
call forth from one another the burning love
that is hidden in every heart.
— Edward Hays (adapted)
What a lovely story! I’ve loved the blue decor since I saw it in Germany and have also noticed that it is a Hanukkah color as well
Funny that you mention your dad and blue lights, I have been doing that for several years until this year when (suggested by my wife) I added white lights so it is blue/white.