What if????

We put up the Christmas tree last night. Mama and I were remembering Christmas Past, mine and hers, as children. She and her daddy would go to the woods on their farm in Virginia, Cloverly, find a cedar tree and cut it down. Some of the ornaments came from her mother’s home in Richmond and were blown glass from Germany brought over when her father emigrated to America. In our home pine trees were the tree of choice primarily because there were so many of them and they grew so fast. Buying a Christmas tree was not one of our family values. We would carefully unwrap the ornaments stored in tissue paper and place them in the perfect spot after wrapping the tree in large colored lights. The final touch was the placement of the tinsel. Mother still has some of our old tinsel stored in the linen closet. A magical time, a time that lives now in our memories and warms our heart as it brings tears to our eyes grieving the loss of so many who stood by us during those dear days long ago.
I was a child who believed in magical people and events. Fairies and fairy rings could be found even in sandy south Georgia. Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny brought fantasy and life and color to my interior life, expanded my vision, taught me some lessons about giving and sharing. I am always grateful my parents did not restrict my entry into the Land of What If because of religious principles or fear of watching my disillusionment upon discovering the jolly old elf was my mama and daddy. What fun to play the game of make believe, explore all the possibilities... what if Santa Claus started early down south so he could have time for everyone (used to explain early Christmas for a trip to grandparents)... what if the Easter Bunny could bring fancy socks that matched your new Easter Dress as well as candy in your Easter basket... what if fairies and leprechauns emigrated from Ireland and made their way to south Georgia taking up residence in the old barn across from your house...what if all the animals do talk at midnight on Christmas Eve... what if for one blessed day the whole world could be free of hunger, suffering, death, and war with the peace that passes all understanding settling down like an old, worn quilt over the tired, aching bones of this world.
Faith during Advent for me is the "What If" of life. What if God is speaking Hope to me in the poem I just read? What if I could share my Junie B. Joy with others and my joy could be multiplied? What if I called everyone I Love instead of sending a Christmas letter? What if I could find hope and peace and joy and love just for this small slice of time in this one year of my life? Perhaps I could learn some new way of being that would carry over into the year to come.
Jerene Broadway, our preacher Sunday morning, sent us to the prophet Zechariah for an Advent image that captures the "What Ifness" of this season. The prophet has been having visions right and left, full of mysterious stories, predicting the future. One of the well known images for Jesus is found in Chapter 9, an oracle, "Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass." My favorite image, highlighted by Jerene in her sermon, is found in verse 12. "Return to the stronghold, O prisoners of hope." This year I choose to live hoping, held fast in the vision of what might yet come to pass in the land of the living, the land of what if? I will not pack away my Advent Hope like a cherished ornament, to be kept safe until next year. I will live in hope held fast in the clutches of possibility, trying to catch a glimpse of the fairies living in the barn next door. May it be so.