One of our local churches has a banner that says, “Come home for Christmas.” The motif of being home during the holidays is deeply entrenched in American culture. There are well-loved Christmas songs about it (thanks, Bing Crosby), and conversations during December often revolve around questions like “Where are you going for Christmas?”

The idea of going somewhere for Christmas makes me think that the link between home and holidays has more to do with connection than it does with location. Like the church banner suggests, people are seeking connection and belonging more than showing up at a particular address. It might be time to rethink what that means for our holiday celebrations.

Our holiday celebrations over the past few years (not counting 2020 – the lost year) have included friends of our adult kids. Their families lived in other states, and time or resources were not available for travel. One year I invited a friend from my yoga class to our Thanksgiving dinner. She was from India and had never been to a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Since she was vegetarian, we made sure that the dressing was made with vegetable broth and had other vegetarian options for her. By inviting people who weren’t family, we created connections that were more about kindness and love than they were about blood relationships. So when you think about going “home” for Christmas, consider that connections made with love and kindness might be all that you need.