“Holiday Surprise”

by Dr. Larry Morris

We always expect something unexpected to happen during the holidays and it always does. No two Christmas or Hanukkah holidays are ever alike. Out of the blue, someone may come to visit, or we may decide to go see an old friend. Something unpredictable occurs beyond any of our calculations. It is easy to get thrown by the unexpected unless you are open and receptive to it. It would indeed be boring and tedious if everything always happened just like we planned down to the letter. If the most we had to look forward to was the same repetitive pattern with only minor changes, how dull! There is a cartoon in which a man asks a preacher what heaven will be like. The preacher is silent for a very long time and finally he responds: "No flossing." How different is this from Walt Whitman's sense that the next life will be "beyond anything we can imagine and better." Let's decide right now to let this be a holiday season that is filled to the brim with surprise beyond anything we can imagine, and better.