Slow or Fast?

I've been pondering the new season upon us--early winter. As it relates to food that means more meat, beans, stews, and soups. With the cold outside, I'm loading up on warming foods and trying to stay inside wrapped up in a blanket on the couch as much as possible. It's the innate sense that it's time to hibernate for a bit. I have a very real longing for the natural need to shut down for a few months and get quiet.

I went to see Up in the Air last night, and a quote that keeps swirling in my head from the movie is, "The slower we move, the faster we die." Yikes! If this is true, I don't have many days left. Even before this season of cold descended, I was living slower on purpose. Now that winter is here, I'm trying to slow down even more. In my heart, I know it's the right thing to do. But it's difficult to live among the whirlwind of activity our culture has created to avoid slowing down.

The holidays have been particularly difficult for me this year. I think this disconnect may be one reason. At church I'm getting the message of  "Jesus is the reason for the season" and prepare your heart to welcome the baby by attending this long list of activities. The marketing experts are working overtime to convince me that their product is just what my loved one wants this year. Where do I start with the food piece? Both my family and my husband's have their traditions, and we had an addition this year with my sister, so the food was decadent and plentiful. But was I satisfied by any of this fanfare? Not so much.

Don't get me wrong, we had a fabulous Christmas day with my sister's family, my parents, and my in-laws and laughed at my 2 year old chewing 29 pieces of gum in under 3 hours and celebrated the installation of a brand new toilet to replace the 35 year old one. Great day, but the atmosphere of frenzy ramped up by a total sugar overdose left me feeling a little empty. I don't know that I ever really welcomed the Christ child. Come to think of it, I don't know if we even uttered Jesus' name on Christmas day. Actually, we did, at the end of the day when my mother asked where the baby Jesus was, since he wasn't in the manger of our nativity. Wow. Not exactly the tradition I want to establish for my son.

So here I am with too many leftovers and a sinking feeling that I have ignored God this Christmas. That's why I've got to slow down and embrace this season of hibernation. I need to simmer on myself while the beans are simmering on the stove and get connected again.