The Quiet That Is Christmas

It is Christmas morning, once again. One of those days when every other Christmas seems to join with this one, making one continuous whole back to the beginning of time.

I seem always to wake early on Christmas day, perhaps a habit from childhood.

And the first thought to pass my mind is the quiet of the world.

Even the wind this morning is notable for its absence.

A blanket of quiet warming, and yet like snow holding the world in thrall.

Of course there is reason for the quiet, in many cases people have gravitated to family, it is after all almost the purpose of Christmas Eve to be the time when everyone is busy with last minute shopping.

And then, the quiet. The pause of much bustle. When even our thoughts can cease to think of too much beyond the moment, the significance of this day. And what it has meant in our culture for so many centuries.

It is perhaps the only day when such quiet blankets the world. Or at least, our world.

The absence of traffic, of people in the streets, it is almost as if should it be
Spring, we should hear the unfurling of leaves from their buds.

But it is not Spring, not in this hemisphere, and we are comfortable in our warm homes. And thoughtful for once about those that may not have the comforta that we can afford.

And so it is a time for consideration, for thoughtfulness, and for celebration of what we have and why we have it.

I am humbled at the quiet of the morning, so present, though it must be like this each day.  Although I do not perceive it such.

Perhaps it is that much more important that we should not be so aware of every day as if it were like this, for then it should not seem so special, when it is this day.

And we have had the opportunity to think all of our thoughts for this moment in time, when it is what it is.

For some of us the centre of our spiritual selves, for many simply a festival of shopping.

But for all, a time when time itself seems to stop, and then to start again. Something the poet TS Eliot called the still point of the turning world.