Don’t throw away that Christmas tree yet

Are you having the post-Christmas blues? You know, the blues you get when you spent about 1 1/2 months preparing for Christmas only to have it all torn to pieces in one day. Well, don’t worry…

Traditionally, Christmas is not one day but 12 days and ends January 6th with Epiphany. You know the song, “Twelve Days of Christmas?” Well, your true love hasn’t given you twelve drummers drumming yet. So, take a few more days to drink egg nog, make cookies, read the birth stories of Christ, reflect, and sing songs all in the name of Christmas.

Advent was a time for us to slow down and reflect on Christ’s first (past) and second (future) comings. I personally didn’t feel as though Christmas “crept up” on me, but I was able to prepare in a meditative way. If we treat Christmas day as one day, we inevitably destroy that sense of “anticipation.” Yes, Christ is born! But just like when any child is born, they aren’t just born and we now move on with life as if it didn’t happen. No! That child is slowly grafted into your life. It takes time to adjust to waking up in the middle of the night or changing diapers or holding a small, innocent child in your arms or feeling great joy as his heartbeat beats on your chest. It just doesn’t stop after one day. It takes time and so should Christmas.

So, hold on to the Christ child a little longer, and don’t throw away that Christmas tree yet.