Happy Holidays, courtesy of Fantasy Land

Between shopping, packing, working and just being there, how was your week?

It’s been super hectic here. There was this double booking with strangers at an out-of-state Airbnb, a fight between two choir members for the position of director to win a handsome new church pastor, and another congregation needed help. new roof, so everyone prayed for a music legend to appear at a Christmas pageant to boost ticket sales. Not to mention the dilemma of giving a niece and nephew some renewed holiday spirit when their parents are stuck out of town, while you’re also falling for a longtime friend.

If you’re wondering how any of the above was accomplished without a clone or a time machine, no worries, it was easy, because all of those things have happened in an assortment of Christmas movies.

Indulging in holiday movie binges was once a cringe-inducing activity here, but recently they’ve become a guilty pleasure, and we indulge in old favorites and newer ones, trending every season.

I have to admit there are still some cheesy moments that seem to be branded in regardless of what network they’re on, but at least the newer ones try to have a cohesive narrative that just happen to arise during holidays. It’s fun to peek into a life so different from your own, to discover new kinds of customs, traditions, and even meals that might have otherwise eluded you.

It was refreshing to see the duties and expectations of a second-generation pastor who has to plan a fundraising jamboree in Lifetime’s A Gospel Christmas. Holly Robinson Peete demonstrated the difficulties of sibling rivalry and raising an autistic child by Our Christmas trip. I even find joy in revisiting Amazon’s lighthearted animation of Ezra Jack Keats’ storybook classic. The snow dayremembering my own childhood in Cleveland and the wonder of walking around in my heavy red boots, fingerless mitts and waist-deep hooded coat in powder snow.

Cherish the present – as well as the gifts

There’s a reason networks and record labels continue to create and demand more Christmas-related gems: when done right and in the holiday spirit, they become gifts in themselves. . They remind us, in the midst of our worldly trials and stressors, that magic can still exist. If we can’t visit our loved ones out of state, we can always ask our smart speaker to play Grandma’s favorite version of a Christmas carol – “Silent Night” by The Temptations, per example – and call her for advice while we’re trying to get this cake upside down just right. While we bake cookies with our kids, we forget about the sprinkles on the floor and let them lick the beaters, just like our favorite aunt let us. Passing on traditions and seeing them become part of a new generation reminds us of the important things in life; movies and music can present us with a new way to embrace them, help us discover the daily miracles we take for granted, or even convince us to start over.

If you’re like me, you’re still waiting for packages to arrive or getting ready for that last chaotic shopping trip, or showing up to volunteer and ease the burden of tired grandparents or infirm or lonely patients. It can be very infuriating to see movie after movie about a woman quitting her high-profile job to be closer to her ex, or the workaholic who is forced by circumstance to learn what holiday joy is like, but these stories always suspend us in different places and times and take us away from the dregs of everyday life.

No matter what you watch or listen to, I hope this Christmas finds you safe, warm, fed and loved. Happy holidays, everyone!

Lorrie Irby Jackson is a columnist at The Briefing. Email him at [email protected].

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