Christmas is personally held very close to my heart, and I can still remember the Christmas programs that our church used to put on many years ago as if they were just yesterday. For me, the magic of Christmas was very real. Perhaps it was the beautiful fallacy of a jolly old man giving out presents; or perhaps it was the practically infinite chocolate; or the church services that lasted till midnight; or even just being able to see my friends more often. Either way, Christmas had a major impact on my childhood, perhaps more than even I realised at first.
But like everyone else, I had to grow up - and it felt like Christmas itself was slowly having less and less impact on my life. After all, I am no longer the same 8-year-old who was dragged to practices for church performances every week, neither am I the same boy who starred in 3 nativity plays, nor the child who had hours upon hours of free time.
I have my own life now, with my own friends and my own personal life, and I no longer have the time (nor the want) to attend weekly practices for church, or to rehearse nativity plays. I'm pretty confident I've moved past that stage of life.
A few months ago, if I heard that Christmas wouldn't be canceled, especially with our current cases, I would've been shocked, and practically outraged at the government. After all, it's not unknown that opening up, especially for Christmas, will increase our cases.
But I've come to realise how big of a part in my life Christmas plays for me. Whether we want to admit it or not, the feeling of one day walking down the high-street at night and seeing the streetlamps illuminated with a huge variety of colours and designs, in a fantastic display of light is such so incredible; and just eating a meal with my family is worth so much more to me than I knew. Even just seeing that jolly old man in the store windows held a bigger part in my life than I ever thought possible
Opening up for Christmas will increase cases. But beyond that, Christmas is so much more than just a day, and I'd argue that Christmas is more important to us than even we realise it to be.
