25 Days of Christmas: The true spirit of Christmas comes at its darkest moments
Christmas Eve is one of the longest nights of the year -- or the shortest, if you have toys to assemble before the kids start to stir.
This year, when the clouds part, the first Christmas full moon since 1977 will shine down on South Mississippi. It won't happen again until 2034.
Called the "full cold moon" or "long nights moon," the official full moon comes at 5:11 a.m. South Mississippi time. By then, kids will already be up, tearing open presents.
The winter solstice came Tuesday, and the Coast will see nearly 14 hours of darkness between sunset at 5:01 Christmas Eve and sunrise at 6:50 Christmas Day.
It is during those dark hours that Christmas truly comes.
Darkness falls as families head out to Christmas Eve services or sit down to the first feast. Following their traditions, it may be only seafood that is served or the table may be laden with a Christmas roast or Italian dishes. Some will eat gumbo. "Not on Christmas," others say.
At many homes, "The Night Before Christmas" will be recited to restless children who, as we did when we were small, beg for "just one present" to open on Christmas Eve.
It might take NORAD's Santa tracker to get them to bed: "Look, here he comes. Better get under the covers."
The other traditional reading on Christmas Eve is the story according to Luke. Those who grew up watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" can recite with Linus the verse telling of the angel appearing to the shepherds:
"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
The Sun Herald has now celebrated 24 of the 25 Days of Christmas on the Coast with music, food, pageants and light displays. Croatians, French, Vietnamese and other cultures that moved to South Mississippi share the traditions of their native lands and blend them into new ones adopted along the Coast for a Christmas unlike any other.
Late Christmas Eve, when the halls are decorated, the cookies baked, the presents wrapped and the kids are asleep, Christmas comes softly. This is the moment, the magic that recalls a child born in a manger. We light a candle in the darkness and remember the people who were part of our Christmases past. We treasure the stillness before the dawn.
"You know," wrote Lyman Krewson, publisher of a Pennsylvania newspaper, in his column 50 years ago as he imagined Santa's wild ride, "it doesn't seem to matter whether you're on the ground looking up or in the air looking down. On Christmas Eve all you need is one bright light to guide you."
That goes for every night.
Merry Christmas, South Mississippi.
This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "25 Days of Christmas: The true spirit of Christmas comes at its darkest moments ."