Elf Pig

Every night when I walk,
I pass an illuminated pig in an elf costume. I think it is weird. I'm sure if someone saw me standing there in Kirt's bright orange camo jacket and light-up ball cap the scene gets even weirder, but I can't quite figure out the connection between an elf pig and Christmas. The fact that today is the beginning of Hanukah is not completely lost on me either. I'm thinking there is something down right sacrilege there.

So I spent a good part of the walk thinking about the pig and trying to work out the cramp in my butt from sitting on the most uncomfortable bleachers at the second middle school concert. Tis the season for concerts. I'm up to 4.5 hours of joyful noise. I actually do enjoy it. One of my gifts is being slightly tone deaf so it all sounds pretty wonderful to me.

It's fabulous to see my kids and the kids from the neighborhood playing or singing. I love all the hugs following. But, my favorite part of the concert season is the sense of good will in the audience. You can feel every single parent, grandparent, cousin, aunt, and uncle wishing them well, especially during solos. We all kind of hold our breath together sending every good vibe that we can to the clearly shaken adolescent.

Something similar happens in our church with musicians. We had some lovely music this past Sunday the second time around. One of my favorite folks played a fabulous piece on his harmonica and the first time it didn't quite work, but we all encouraged another go and he hit it right on. We burst into spontaneous applause even though we just had the talk about music being an offering where "amen" is more appropriate than applause, but what the heck. We all held our breath and wished him success with every inch of our beings.

I wonder why I don't do that more often. There is a warning in scripture against the evil eye; it often gets translated as envy. The evil eye is when you curse someone's good fortune or wish them ill. I feel this way sometimes when I see cute crafts or baking projects on Facebook. Nothing too horrible. Just maybe that their gorgeous decoupage spells out a dirty word in the mirror or that the amazing Frozen cupcakes taste like sand. I catch myself hoping that women who can match their clothes and walk in high heels have something hanging out of their noses. Sorry.

But, the elf pig has brought me back to my senses. I wish them all well. That's not actually related to the pig at all, but it got me thinking and a bit more aware of my own brokenness. So I suppose I should be thankful for the elf pig and wish him well even if I don't understand him. I'm going to start thinking about the dinosaur in a Santa costume next.