Something different has happened this year. Usually the pace is frenetic, buying becomes a burden, the to-do list is endless and then when Christmas Day, finally, arrives we thoroughly enjoy it but it is over in the blink of an eye. Gifts unwrapped, leftovers in the fridge and the thought of having to say goodbyes to family can all result in a rather gloomy crash. All the effort, anticipation and massive build up can set us up for post-Christmas blues if we aren’t aware that there is something more to explore beyond the actual day.
Like a wedding day – the build up is not just to get to the day in and of itself. The celebration day is the mark of Forever After. From that point on there is a honeymoon and then a lifetime together. Christmas Day means the waiting is over. The prophesies about a saviour to come were all fulfilled two thousand years ago in that stable under the star and the reverberations continue down the centuries. This celebration day is the starting point of another love story. Instead of experiencing regret about all the special treats we didn’t have time to make before, the movies we didn’t watch, the advent readings that fell by the wayside, the meaningful traditions we forgot about and the conversations we failed to have this is exactly the time to do those things! It is not over yet! It has, in fact, only just begun.We have gotten more into the groove of Advent around here, building in meaningful little past times and traditions as we wait, but we have never really thought about the twelve days after Christmas. I have only distantly been aware of it from songs I’ve heard or by watching friends only take down their tree on the 6th of January. This year as Christmas day drew to a close, I resolved to still make the silver paper chain and gingerbread house that hadn’t been made yet, even though such things are usually completed way before Christmas. Instead of thinking we would have to wait until next year, I was optimistic that we could stretch the wonder of the season out a little. From that decision onward, I seemed to stumble across nuggets of this simple, yet profound, truth in everything I read or every conversation I had! It is not just me and my wishful thinking, it really is a thing! It is the very ticket we need to settle into something that was never meant to last just a day.
The rains are falling down here in Africa. Soaking and abundant where we live, like millions of never-ending crystal jewels to feed our thirsty land and our parched souls. It has been so unseasonably hot and this shift in the weather is like a gift arriving not a moment too soon. The fairy lights that remain in the house, because Christmas is not over, form a warm, bright contrast to the purple-grey, dripping outside world. Most businesses are closed, the weather is on our side and we are getting into the groove. The gingerbread house is made, the paper chain is up, we yawn our way through a mid-morning read on the couch, new board games are being played, cupboards have been tidied and Christmas treats keep appearing. The children have missed their friends, and we have too, but we keep urging us as a family to go as slowly and mindfully as possible.
This is the season to be jolly and merry but also the one for silent, holy nights. It would seem that all the party animals have left town to celebrate elsewhere, because our neighbourhood is still as can be under it’s clouded, full-mooned sky. Not a hint of night time revelry, not a screech of breaks. It might just be me, but I am doubting it. There is an invitation, to all right now, to settle into what can only be a sacred moment in time. A season of continued giving and receiving of gifts, not the ones that cost money, mind you. A quiet space to prepare our hearts, bodies and minds for the new year ahead. We are allowed to rest a while in the afterglow of a Love so vast and intoxicating that Christmas leaves us anything but weary and depressed.
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