I was a brand new nurse, sending out approximately 250 Christmas cards every year. Through the years my Christmas Card List grew expotentially - cousins that move out and start their own family, new friends and acquaintances with each move made - and it was starting to get out of hand.
I would spend enormous amounts on cards and stamps - and hours of time to write more than just a signature on each card. I figured - if you were going to send a card, one might as well personalize it with a newsy note at the very least. As well, the post office didn't give any breaks on stamps, so I thought - might as well send a short letter.
Nowadays my Christmas card list is very small. I only send a paper card to those who don't have email. To the rest - my account with Blue Mountain dot com does just fine and covers all bases for less than $12 per year.....never mind being more green.
Most card messages are fairly standard - the usual "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" - and perhaps a simple little verse. Very forgettable.
Back in the 1970s, the choices were a fraction of what we have today. I spent hours trying to find the perfect card....
Then - I found that card that made a lasting impression on me. I copied out the verse into my Bible and for years I would send out my Holiday cards, handwriting this same quote in each, along with my usual note.
The verse?
Hold fast to stars,
Hold fast to the Elusive, the Intangible,
The never-to-be-had.
For stars fall from heaven sometimes,
And kings are born in barns,
And Miracles rise out of the Little Things.
Today, you can find it online by googling, but none give reference to the author and they are all in very recent publications. I speculate at how each of those people found that same verse. Was it passed along from my own cards? Or - did someone else do the same as I - copy the verse from their own card because it meant so much to them? In my original Christmas card from the 1970s, there were no credits. It was just a verse someone had composed for the card company, I would venture to guess. (let me know if any one of you out there finds otherwise!)
The excerpt meant a lot to me back then - realizing that my dreams, and the seemingly impossible, was possible.
That there was Someone out there who cared for me and was taking care of every little thing in my life, even when I made bad choices or when bad things found me.
That sometimes, when you wish and hope - that those things we wish and hope for are nowhere near the splendor and greatness we actually are eventually handed.
Every Christmas, when I dragged out that verse, it was a reminder - to me - of the Hope we have in this world. A reminder to reach farther and higher.
After all, greatness is only achieved when you strive for that which seems beyond our grasp.
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| Christmas Centerpiece at my cousin's house - cranberries and white roses |
