Expectation

I wake early, with a smile of anticipation. I turn on all the window candles and the Christmas lights here and there around tables and trees and corners. In the fog and gloom of the morning, the blurred stars are shining.

I wonder what’s coming when they arrive; who will be in a good mood. Who will not. I hope they won’t be disappointed. I hope we laugh a lot.

I am full of wonder and hope, like a child again, except for that fractured belief.

This Christmas, I want only one thing: to hold compassion and let go of expectation, so that I can be in the presence of the love that’s come bearing gifts.