Day 17. Close Your Eyes

Source: unknown

"And don't peek"

* * * * * * * * * * *

"You can't look" she said.

"I promise."

He loved it when someone had a secret thing to present,

and asked him not to look, and he had to promise he wouldn't.

He faced the tree, and as an extra precaution, shut his eyes.

Timothy and Cynthia on Christmas Eve as she goes to get his present

~ from Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon, p. 262

* * * * * * * * * * *

Source

There is something very special about secrets at Christmas. There's such a sense of wonder and awe in the air. You feel the anticipated joy, and you giggle inside because you can hardly imagine what the surprise could be.

It tickles your heart that someone is making a fuss over you, asking you to go along with that old playful ritual about how you have to close your eyes and promise not open them until the person says you can look now.

And, then there it is in front of you ... the very thing you were longing for, even if you didn't know it until you saw it right then. And your heart expands with an explosion of joy, not only at the gift but for the giver whose regard and affection for you in that moment is so evident that you feel cherished.

I'm hoping that you have experienced such a moment at least once in your life. Hopefully more than once. And, I hope you haven't forgotten how to do that for someone else. As there really is something special in that seemingly ordinary little ritual.

There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved:

It is God's finger on man's shoulder.

~ Charles Morgan

Why not create such a moment for someone this Christmas... and watch your own joy increase when you watch her eyes light up and realize she means the world to you.