...Van Gogh's The Christmas Prayer and Christmas stories...

The Art Institute of Chicago was fortunate enough to have Van Gogh’s The Christmas Prayer, 1882 on loan to the museum starting in 2013, and I was fortunate to be able to see it in person. Again, this was another lucky fine that included a great deal of good timing! It seems that my Chicago trip really set the mood for Christmas this year. I'm terrible at Advent. The art of patience and waiting? Yeah, that's not really me.

I think this works well during this week of Thanksgiving. In many ways, being grateful for what one has is a prayer in itself. 

The piece also reminds me of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I can't help but think of reading Christmas stories this time of year and I love a good Christmas ghost story! I have a tradition of reading Christmas books this time of year. Last year I picked up The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries. One section includes "A Scary Little Christmas". Because it is filled with stories and it's 650 pages, I didn't finish reading it last year. I can't binge read short stories or they all start to become one odd story.