Old Traditions, and New Ones
Clark Griswold. That’s the nickname given to me by my family, especially applicable around Christmas time. If you have ever watched the movie Christmas Vacation, you get the idea. I love Christmas, and over the years I have layered on “traditions” that define our family Christmas. Like Clark, I have bought trees too big, fallen off ladders putting up Christmas lights on the house, and hidden presents that I have forgotten about until I found them, a year or two later. After 20+ years of having our family Christmas in Michigan, everything changed when we moved to NYC. Instead of driving out to the tree farm north of Romeo, Michigan and cutting down our tree, tying it to the top of the family minivan, and driving it home, this year we selected a tree from a limited supply at 1st Ave and 19th, paying enough to buy an entire forest, and then hauling it by hand nearly a mile to our apartment.
Nearly all of our traditions are gone. I have complained to Chris recently that I can’t seem to get into the spirit of the season. Most of the things that marked Christmas no longer exist. It’s just one of the many adjustments that I did not fully anticipate before we moved here. In this case, perhaps it’s not altogether a bad thing- maybe Christmas can be simplified so that the wonder of the reincarnation captures my thoughts.
Today has been a wonderful day, and I see now that at this season of my life, in this new place, we have the opportunity to develop new traditions. The day began early in Central Park. For the second year in a row, on the Saturday before Christmas I ran a 15k race with my daughter, Megan. There were about 7000 runners in the 20 degree temp, creating an amazing festive environment. We ran the entire race with Keith Kallen and his daughter Rebecca. It was an hour and a half with two middle aged men and their college aged daughters enjoying each other, running through a beautiful park (ok- we didn’t set any speed records!).
After the race, it was some last minute shopping in the hustle and bustle of the city…from Times Square to SoHo to the East Village. I found myself enjoying the crowds and the chaos. It is definitely “Christmas time in the city…” as the song goes.
Tonight was icing on the cake. Ten of us gathered in the East Village in a quaint Italian restaurant for dinner and conversation. These are all friends who have left their own “traditions” to help build a community, following Jesus here in New York. I think this will become one of my favorite traditions.
A major snow storm hit late this afternoon- 15 inches is forecast. It is crazy out right now. We left the restaurant in a true blizzard. By the time we walked a block to 1st Ave to catch a bus, we were frozen. No bus was in sight as we stood in the blowing snow. Visibility was so bad that we could only see a couple of blocks. We finally decided to splurge on a cab- it was a mile and a half walk to our apartment. There were five of us together, and the cab could only take four. We pulled away from the curb and watched Dave battling the north wind. Our cab driver was from Pakistan, and I had to think about his limited experience in driving in the snow as we skidded up 1st Ave.
It was a day of new experiences that I believe will become new traditions.
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3 Comments
Pat Murphy commented on December 30th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Dear Craig, I so miss you at Kensington but there are people who need you more than I. At least I can get my "Craig" fix thru your blog. You inspire me to be a better person with your stories and observations of the real world, and to be the church. Please don't stop writing, you are a great teacher. God bless you and your team, you are a blessing for Manhattan. All of us in Michigan love you, and pray for you.
Stephanie Sachs commented on January 2nd, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Tomorrow, we will join Communitas for the first time. Oh, how well we resonate with this reflection! We, too, struggled to feel the spirit of the season with all of our traditions absent. We, too, trenched all over Manhattan, miles and miles through snow, slush, ice, and bitter winds. We trust, in faith, that Christ has us here for a reason, and we thank Him for that, even as we, too, struggle with the changes and losses-wonderful discoveries. Thanks, Craig and Chris, for your transparency; it has warmed our hearts and been such an encouragement to us. See you tomorrow :)
jeannie commented on January 7th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Like you, our family is steeped in Christmas tradition. And, also like you, this year we began to change those traditions. Not because we have moved away to begin a new ministry, but because the community we have lived in for the past 15 years has changed around us. So many families are experiencing financial hardships due to lost jobs. As we all know, once a job is lost the troubles seem to snowball and we are seeing all around us home foreclosures, hospitalizations with no insurance, skyrocketing bills with no income... the list goes on. So, this year, we still bought the tree and lugged it home. We still bought gifts for the kids and grandkids BUT we scaled back. This let us do more for those hurting "neighbors" in our surrounding community. What a blessed Christmas we had! We found ourselves grinning more, singing more, laughing together more than ever. As we shared what we have with others the peace of Christ settled upon us and brought us such precious blessings this holiday season. Whether in NYC or in rural Michigan, Christians are being called to service and compassion in the mission field that lies just outside our own doorstep. We truly are one in the Spirit and one in our mission to take the message of Christ to the hurting world.