Christmas 2024

Posted on December 23, 2024 by ivonprefontaine

This is the time of the year to have dreams of a more just and humane world. Dreams are the land of hope and Christmas is the perfect time to be a dreamer. This brings to my mind the lines from Imagine by John Lennon:

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Several years ago, I read an essay by Parker Palmer reminding me of the miracle of Christmas. As a child growing up in Northern Alberta, Christmas was a time of wonder. Christmas was not the neoliberal, market-driven affair of today. It was a time to re-member the deepest messages of the time of year.

Parker posted on Facebook about an experience in Nogales Mexico at a refuge for asylum seekers and pointed out Jesus was likely a person of colour born into the Jewish faith. In this sense, I understand Jesus’ birth as one transcending one particular faith.

Part of my academic journey this year was writing a potential chapter on nonviolent education. I read The Raft is Not the Shore, which was a conversation between Thich Nhat Hanh and Daniel Berrigan. They described how They, the Buddhist monk, engaged in communion and how the Jesuit priest reveled in learning more about Buddhism. In our polarized and divided world, this type ecumenism and communion (entering into intimate relationship with each other) with each other has fallen by the wayside.

I wrote the following poem several years ago and am drawn back to it. I hope it captures Christmas in a way that reaches out and touches what we share in common with each other: our humanness and journey seeking refuge at various times

Carpenter guiding,

Expectant mother riding,

Backs straight; heads high–

Donkey serving as regal carriage.

Seeking refuge in the night–

Giving birth in a stable,

Swathed and cradled in a manger,

Beasts welcoming the child.

Showering gifts upon us–

Returning each year,

Lighting the way–

Only asking, “Can you open your hearts?”

Source of strength and courage,

Our turn to humbly receive gifts,

Restocking spirits,

Rejuvenating souls.

For several years, Kathy and I attended concerts by Canadian singer and actor Tom Jackson. The proceeds went to support local food banks and we took something extra with us to share.

He sings a beautiful version of Huron Carole, which points to the ecumenical and communal nature of Christmas. It echoes Parker’s re-membering “the story, the music, the candlelight, the scent of pine, the silent night, the warm presence of family and friends.”

For me, Christmas is sharing time with family, friends, and expressing kindness to those who we don’t know. It is a 365 day process as opposed to a run up to a one day event.

25 Comments

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About ivonprefontaine

In keeping with bell hooks and Noam Chomsky, I consider myself a public and dissident intellectual. Part of my work is to move beyond (transcend) institutional dogmas that bind me to defend freedom, raising my voice to be heard on behalf of those who seek equity and justice in all their forms. I completed my PhD in Philosophy of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA. My dissertation and research was how teachers experience becoming teachers and their role as leaders. I focus on leading, communicating, and innovating in organizations. This includes mindfuful servant-leadership, World Cafe events, Appreciative Inquiry, and expressing one's self through creativity. I offer retreats, workshops, and presentations that can be tailored to your organzations specific needs. I published peer reviewed articles about schools as learning organizations, currere as an ethical pursuit, and hope as an essential element of adult eductaion. I published three poems and am currently preparing my poetry to publish as an anthology of poetry. I present on mindful leadership, servant leadership, schools as learning organizations, how teachers experience becoming teachers, assessement, and critical thinking. I facilitate mindfulness, hospitality retreats. and World Cafe Events using Appreciative Inquiry. I am writing and researching about various forms of leadership, how teachers inform and form their identity as a particular teacher, schools as learning organizations, hope, nonviolence and its anticipatory relationship with the future, as essential elements to teaching and learning. Academic publications can be found at Ivon Gile Prefontaine on ResearchGate

25 responses »

  1. crowcanyonjournal's avatar crowcanyonjournal | December 23, 2024 at 10:10 pm

    Thanks for the poem, Ivon, and Happy Christmas!

    Reply
  2. Val T Boyko's avatar Val Boyko | December 24, 2024 at 3:02 am

    Thank you Ivon for this lovely reflective post. Have a Happy Loving Christmas 💞

    Reply
  3. Sheila “Spiral Sister” Murrey's avatar Sheila “Spiral Sister” Murrey | December 24, 2024 at 4:35 am

    Beautiful! I want to play this video for my three young granddaughters tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  4. jazzytower's avatar jazzytower | December 24, 2024 at 6:23 am

    Good food for thought in this holy season. Thank you. A good holiday to you and yours Ivon.
    Pat

    Reply
  5. Newbloggycat's avatar Newbloggycat | December 24, 2024 at 11:43 am

    Merry Christmas to you and yours, Ivon! 🎄☃️🎁

    Reply
  6. Dawn Pisturino's avatar Dawn Pisturino | December 24, 2024 at 5:33 pm

    Lovely post! Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  8. Under the mask..'s avatar Under the mask.. | December 25, 2024 at 7:20 am

    Love this! Merry Christmas 😊

    Reply
  9. inavukic's avatar inavukic | December 28, 2024 at 3:12 am

    Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

    Reply
  10. johncoyote's avatar johncoyote | December 31, 2024 at 1:48 am

    Happy New year my friend.

    Reply
  12. Gypsy Bev's avatar Gypsy Bev | January 4, 2025 at 7:03 am

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Enjoyed your poem. Wish more people would share the Christmas spirit all year long. As Charles Dickens once wrote, “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”

    Reply

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