The missing Christmas

For most of my life I lived with the idea that Christmas was just the day. My mom would decorate the house a week or two before Christmas Day, and then take the decorations down by New Year's Day. It wasn't until I married a Lutheran that I was exposed to the seasons of Advent and Christmas. I adopted those seasons into my own life, and this past Advent was no exception. (For those who may not embrace a liturgical calendar, Advent is the season marked by the four Sundays that precede Christmas, and Christmas is the 12 days starting with Christmas Day and concluding with Epiphany on January 6th.) 

And this Advent was, for me, a deeply personal and moving time. I was using a couple of different Advent devotionals that I added to my regular devotionals, which seemed to elevate the spiritual intensity of the season for me. 

But here we are, two days after Christmas, and I am feeling down. Oh, sure, I had a wonderful Christmas Day with family here at home, and over Facebook with family in Seattle and Georgia. My wife has suggested that the joy of Christmas Day, along with the deeply spiritual meaning of Advent, were the mountain peaks, and now I am going through a valley. But it seems more than that. 

And just now, I realized that something was missing: Christmas. Not that the day is missing, but the support that I felt with all the Advent devotionals has not carried over to the Christmas Season, because there are no Christmas devotionals that guide us through the Twelve Days of Christmas.

So, how am I going to fix this? Well, first of all, I'm not going to try anything, because I believe if I try, I will fail. The paradox of Christianity is that we do not have to do anything to receive the Gift of Grace: it's a gift, just as the ones that flooded the floor underneath our Christmas tree. And often, if we TRY to make something happen, it will not happen. But if we are open, and allow ourselves to be available to whatever it is God is doing in our lives, then something can and will happen that will be better than we expected. 

During Advent I prayed daily that the Gifts of Advent, which are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love, would fill our home, and be with our family. And now, during Christmas, I am still praying for those gifts to be with us as we go through this season, and throughout the year. Much like Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol, when he promises to keep Christmas throughout the year, we need to - I need to - keep Christmas throughout the year. It isn't just that day, or the decorations, or even the devotionals. It's a state of being, a way of living. 

Merry Christmas.