From the Bloggings of MSI Press Author, Dr. Geri Henderson: Christmas in Nebraska 2022
Christmas in
Nebraska, 2022
…also known as
“fly-over country.” I have lived, most recently, in Germany and that is the
starting point for my Christmas journey each year to Nebraska. If you want to
find the real “spirit of Christmas,” remaining in Germany would be
self-evident. For many weeks ahead, each town, each city, opens the town square
every weekend for Christmas markets. More than anything, it’s a chance for
local artisans to fill the charming booths with their wares and for the church
and secular choirs to provide music. People wander around, sipping on Glühwein,
munching on cookies, greeting each other, and adding to an overall atmosphere
of gemütlichkeit—conviviality, comfort, and friendliness that is almost
impossible to replicate in any other setting. My work as a professor means that
I must finish my work before I leave for Nebraska, missing some of the biggest,
busiest, most beautiful markets.
I’ve spent Christmas
in many places: once in the Hagia Sophia of Istanbul, once or twice in
Jordan, and growing up in Jamaica. Clearly, cold weather doesn’t make much
difference in the celebration of Christmas. In Jamaica, it was about Jamaican
Christmas (rum and fruit) pudding, 5 am Christmas morning service, fireworks,
and the local Jonkonnu characters, dancing for money.
We usually ended up in
a cottage on the beach in the holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s,
with yet more fireworks! It was said that if the minister did not complete his
final prayer by 6 am sharp, the congregation would never hear it for the loud
explosions everywhere.
With all this culture,
color, and commotion in other parts of the world, what can one expect from a
Christmas in Nebraska? No matter where
I’ve lived, Christmas celebrations are both ubiquitous and varied. Compared
with other places, what Nebraska can offer is very low key but much more
important to the essence of the season, no matter where we live. Nebraska is
where my family settled when they had their own families and I’m drawn to
return for the holiday as often as I can.
When I first moved
here, I often said, “Nebraska is the absence of everything! No oceans, no
mountains, nothing!” Of course, that is not true. Dramatic geography, such as I
enjoyed in Jamaica and in Lebanon, where the Caribbean Sea was never more than
an hour away or the Mediterranean was almost always within view, held in place
by the mountains right behind it, is impossible to experience in Nebraska.
Nebraska sits in the middle of a huge expanse of prairie, big sky country and,
admittedly, that has its own, unique drama and beauty. Even if I can’t fully
appreciate it, I know it is powerful with a horizon that never ends.
What is really
important to me is the fact that the prairie is home to some of the most
wonderful people I’ve ever met, anywhere in the world. I can’t say for certain,
but here it is an accepted fact that the harsh winters and hard work required
on the family farms around here have created a population of resilience,
loyalty, resolve, and support of one another that is only found here, in the
middle of the North American continent. The same could be said of the people
like those in the Dakotas, Kansas, Wyoming, Iowa, and a few others that have
remained mostly rural. The difference between them and Nebraskans is just one
thing. Nebraska is the place where my friends and family live.
In other words, the
beauty of the landscape, the charm of the cultural celebrations, or the power
of the sacred liturgies practiced are never going to have as strong a pull for
me as who it is I can celebrate with each year. There is an overwhelming
gratitude I have for every opportunity to return to family and friends. I
understand that it is a privilege that not everyone has but it is an experience
that can be shared with others.
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