I love everything about the Christmas season except that it feels like it comes quicker each year. I am reminded of a friend who said that “life is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer to the end the faster it goes.”

So, it goes.

But the spirit does not.

And each year I see the sacrifice a bit more clearly, a bit more deeply. And it does not touch Merriam-Webster’s version of an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. And the sense I am seeking is even further from its synonyms that hint at the comparative nature as well as a sense of loss: abandonment, forfeiture, yielding, resignation, relinquishment…

The sacrifice I am referring to is closer to the word’s origin in holy, sacred and making—or an act of making sacred. It may have looked different in other times, but sacrifice remains a centerpiece of our connection to the bands of life beyond our earthly vision.

It is no loss or resignation to give fully and make sacred our communions and gifts in the spirit of this season. There is no loss for in this giving we expand. We can see clearer, love deeper. To give one’s life for such a purpose, to make peace and to bring joy today and each day to follow. To make sacred with each breath the simple act of being and being with.

Amen.

May the spirit of Christmas be with you all.