Nancy Pearce
Bayou Jambalaya

Kids still wait for Santa Claus. We still allow children to have their fantasies and fairy tales. The popularity of movies like “The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” “Finding Nemo” and the most recent, ‘WALL-E,” give adults a chance to look back and experience magic again.

These movies also have a message that teaches about how to keep your integrity and care for others and to resist evil. Andy Rooney on last week’s 60 Minutes spoke about Thanksgiving being pushed aside in favor of the seasons that bring in more money and of seeing Christmas promoted as early as October. He pointed out that Thanksgiving is the only true American holiday.

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Still, we use the day after for a shopping frenzy that is the most profitable day in the year for retail businesses. The magic loses its message as it is used more for profit than inspiration.

Some magic has happened to me over the last several years that cause me to reflect on the miraculous gifts that I’ve been given. I go on an annual shopping extravaganza every year with family members and close attention is paid to the things the others admire.

When you make a comment like, this is really nice or I like that, then you get it for Christmas. Nobody is disappointed. You get exactly what you wanted. It’s a time when we bond more closely with one another and Christmas magic happens.

Miracles are not all material. I am not in agreement with the myth that Thanksgiving and Christmas give rise to stress and that all families are in turmoil at holiday time. We have seen the God who works in mysterious ways work miracles of rebirth and reconciliation in our family over several years.

I’ll share a couple of them.

Two husbands were interned in a mausoleum side by side. The two wives visited the mausoleum to pay respects on a regular basis.

Our families had been separated by unfortunate circumstances for many years, but these visits brought about a reunion.

From this reunion more followed. One started a genealogy and started seeking photos and stories from the rest of us. We all got interested. We went to cemeteries searching for names and people we remembered. I had been very close to some of these people and found out they had been deceased.

I felt ashamed that I hadn’t kept in touch with them, so while in Houma one day I wanted to call a close cousin of mine who I had lost touch with. We found a phone number and called, and our lost cousin was found. We showed her the tomb of our Grandfather and Grandmother Belanger.

I believe she was more excited at finding our grandparents right there in Houma near her then being lost and found by us. We began visiting back and forth. She and her daughter visited here and got to meet other kids and grandkids. We agreed it was one of the best days of our lives. We laughed until we cried over stories and for the miracles and the joy.

A scripture verse says beauty will rise from ashes, and so it does. Christmas and Thanksgiving can be healing, if we look for the miracles. Let’s do it! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

NANCY PEARCE is a resident of New Iberia and a former contributor to a liturgical guide for priests. Many of her features appear in a major national publication for teenagers.