Always Winter, Never Christmas

"Always winter, never Christmas."

Though those words are taken from the magic of Narnia they apply just as fully to our own reality. "Always winter, never Christmas." That's pretty much what the adult life is all about. Or at least so it seems.

As children we enjoyed the year-after-year wonder of Christmas. Some of us may even have believed in Santa Claus and in the general sentiment of all that is spectacular of Christmas. But then reality sank in. A reality due to age or any other waking factor. When we wake to reality we realize that there is no Santa. If there is a Santa then he's a fake, often enough we are Santa. We realize that it's not all about gifts any more. It's about the expense. As a child we accept the gifts, but as an adult we surrender our paychecks for those gifts. In other words, the innocence and wonder is lost. In their place the evils of responsibility step in to play.

The same is true of snow. It is always winter, yet never Christmas. The snow is no longer for snow-men or snow-angels or snow-balls. No, now it is for shovelling. It is for cautious driving. It is for expensive heating. It is for winter, but no longer for Christmas.

That is what the adult life seems to be about. It's all about bills. Bills that always seem to be overdue. Or debts. Debts that weigh down on us. Relationships are another screwed up part of the adult winter life. Relationships are one of the biggest complications of being adult.

Is there any way of recovering Christmas? Winter is always there. It's an inevitable reality that forms a part of us. But Christmas should also be a part of our reality. In fact it should be the axis of our winter's revolution. It should not fluctuate (as it does), instead be central to winter. So it is with wonder. Wonder must constitute an integral and central part of adult life.