Hear Jim’s 3-minute Christmas podcast: https://youtu.be/GGXDS5xV75w
or read his transcript below:
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Life, actually…
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A PATCHWORK CHRISTMAS
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Eighty Christmas Eves ago my four-years-older sister and my infant brother and my early-thirty-ish parents are all I know about Santa and his lively, loveable world.
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All the trappings and traditions of this season glaze themselves into fond memories, fond memories that will remain for handy retrieval all the remaining days of my life.
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As Christmas Eve after Christmas Eve slide past, each fragment of remembrance leaves its trace. Each cameo thought is its own teachable moment, whether it is pleasant or challenging.
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We are a patchwork species, we humans. We possess the ability to dream things that once were, dream things that cannot be, dream things that could possibly happen, dream things that are impossible but still imaginable.
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Each of us is a mixture of rude experience, happy recall, sassy thought, wishes and hopefulness, sadness and regret, incredible enthusiasm, gossamer tiptoeing, bravery and fear, anger and optimism.
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We patchwork people survive by wit and willpower. We slog through the toughest times, dance heartily to the tunes of transcendence and avoidance, caress our companions with full confidence that each good moment will last forever.
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In order to live lives worth living, we tend to use the tools we already have—whatever it takes to get through the next moment safely and securely. We are good at caring, we are skilled at sliding past obstacles, we are adept at holding fast our loved ones, we are clumsy at changing the thoughts and errant ways of other people.
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In other words, we are perfect one moment, imperfect the next, discombobulated at times, assured and sure of ourselves now and then.
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We imagine super heroes who accomplish what we cannot. We find scapegoats to make ourselves more competent by comparison. We feel guilt when we fall short of the lessons our parents and elders and teachers taught us. We are prideful when things turn out the way we planned.
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Santa is one of those dreams we created. In my times Santa stood for generosity, unconditional love, kindness personified, omniscience realized. Santa is still a righteous dude in my heart.
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As long as all the goodness in people remains a possible hope, Santa and his imaginary and real compatriots will stand by me and at the very least gently chide me when I stray
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(c) 2025 A.D. by Jim Reed