When I was a kid, my family received a Christmas card that included a recipe for “The Perfect Christmas.” It was a red card with gold lettering and for reasons I still don’t understand, the “nice” words were capitalized. It went something like this.
Take one cup of Joy
and mix in a teaspoon of Peace.
Add a pinch of Magic
and stir with Hope.
Sprinkle with Love.
Serves EVERYONE.
When I read the Christmas card, I was immediately disgusted. “Add a pinch of Magic?” “Sprinkle with Love?” Why would anyone write something so corny? And why would someone send us something so stupid? Did they think we were morons? Was this person a moron?
***
The person, I later learned, was not a moron. At the time, they were pursuing degrees in math and nuclear physics. They graduated with flying colors and for decades have taught at an Ivy League school. So…not a moron but a brainiac who was just being nice.
This was neither the first nor last first time I got something completely wrong.
***
I don’t know why I was so “triggered” by that silly Christmas card. Nowadays, I love to send and receive Christmas cards. The cornier, the better.
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In the classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Bailey gets something “completely wrong.” Long story short: He attempts suicide but through divine intervention and community goodwill, survives. At the end of the film, the whole town gathers in his living room and sings “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish song that includes the line, “We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet for the sake of auld lang syne.”
***
I do my best to drink eight cups of water a day but maybe I should start drinking eight cups of a kindness a day, too. Can’t hurt and maybe it will make me less judgmental.
Thanks for reading. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hydrate. -Connie
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And the days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll drink a cup o' kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne
And surely you will buy your cup
And surely I'll buy mine!
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne
We two have paddled in the stream
From morning sun till night
The seas between us Lord and swell
Since the days of auld lang syne
For old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should old acquaintance be forgot
For the sake of auld lang syne?
For old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should old acquaintance be forgot
In the days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll drink a cup o' kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne
Constance Kuntz 