Twelfth Night
I grew up singing the Twelve Days of Christmas -- drummers drumming, lords a' leaping, pipers piping, the golden rings and all manner of fowl. But for my family Christmas was a day, the capstone of an all-out holiday blitz that used to begin officially on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I can still remember the Christmas Day Melancholy which used to set in for me sometime around 3:00 p.m. on December 25. Christmas was over! Nothing to do but wait until next year.
For the past nineteen years I've had the joy of living with the Christmas season -- THE day itself plus the eleven days after it. The Christmas tree remains in the living room. The lights shine on the front porch. There's even some egg nog still in the refrigerator. I find I'm much more relaxed when the Christmas Spirit is allowed to hover about for a few extra days -- when there's an opportunity for the mystery of Christmas to sink more deeply into my soul.
To be sure, the culture has moved on -- ever more rapidly. On to the next thing. The Valentine's Day cards and candies, as well as St. Patrick's Day shamrocks are already lining the store shelves. And since I'm a part of this culture, I've spent my fair share of time plotting dates in the calendar for the year ahead. Life in the local congregation can be eerily similar to the supposed "real" world.
Have we ordered the Lenten meditation booklets yet?
Easter will be here before you know it!
And then there's Vacation Bible School in the summer.
Then school starts again.
What are we doing for the fall pledge drive?
Who will teach the Middle School Sunday School class?
Have we started thinking about the Advent program?
Who will direct the Christmas pageant this year?
And so it goes.
The ebb and flow of life in community.
For yet another year I didn't receive any calling birds, turtle doves or swimming swans. But Christmas came with its Incarnate Deity, even in the bleak midwinter of Wisconsin. Christian friends rejoiced. Merry Gentlemen rested and were not dismayed. The snow lay on the ground (again!) and if we listened carefully we could almost hear those angels sweetly singing through the night while sheperds watched their flocks all seated on the ground.
No post-Christmas letdown for me these days -- these Twelve Days of Christmas! Instead I finish the season with gratitude, still humming "Joy to the world! The Lord has come!" After nearly two weeks' worth of listening to the stories, singing the carols, sharing meals and laughter (not to mention plenty of worship opportunities!) this holy time draws to a close. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Epiphany. But there's still a couple of hours left. Still time to say, for one final time, until Christmas Day, 2010....
Merry Christmas!
I grew up singing the Twelve Days of Christmas -- drummers drumming, lords a' leaping, pipers piping, the golden rings and all manner of fowl. But for my family Christmas was a day, the capstone of an all-out holiday blitz that used to begin officially on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I can still remember the Christmas Day Melancholy which used to set in for me sometime around 3:00 p.m. on December 25. Christmas was over! Nothing to do but wait until next year.
For the past nineteen years I've had the joy of living with the Christmas season -- THE day itself plus the eleven days after it. The Christmas tree remains in the living room. The lights shine on the front porch. There's even some egg nog still in the refrigerator. I find I'm much more relaxed when the Christmas Spirit is allowed to hover about for a few extra days -- when there's an opportunity for the mystery of Christmas to sink more deeply into my soul.
To be sure, the culture has moved on -- ever more rapidly. On to the next thing. The Valentine's Day cards and candies, as well as St. Patrick's Day shamrocks are already lining the store shelves. And since I'm a part of this culture, I've spent my fair share of time plotting dates in the calendar for the year ahead. Life in the local congregation can be eerily similar to the supposed "real" world.
Have we ordered the Lenten meditation booklets yet?
Easter will be here before you know it!
And then there's Vacation Bible School in the summer.
Then school starts again.
What are we doing for the fall pledge drive?
Who will teach the Middle School Sunday School class?
Have we started thinking about the Advent program?
Who will direct the Christmas pageant this year?
And so it goes.
The ebb and flow of life in community.
For yet another year I didn't receive any calling birds, turtle doves or swimming swans. But Christmas came with its Incarnate Deity, even in the bleak midwinter of Wisconsin. Christian friends rejoiced. Merry Gentlemen rested and were not dismayed. The snow lay on the ground (again!) and if we listened carefully we could almost hear those angels sweetly singing through the night while sheperds watched their flocks all seated on the ground.
No post-Christmas letdown for me these days -- these Twelve Days of Christmas! Instead I finish the season with gratitude, still humming "Joy to the world! The Lord has come!" After nearly two weeks' worth of listening to the stories, singing the carols, sharing meals and laughter (not to mention plenty of worship opportunities!) this holy time draws to a close. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Epiphany. But there's still a couple of hours left. Still time to say, for one final time, until Christmas Day, 2010....
Merry Christmas!
posted by FrGaryB | 9:05 PM
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