Still Christmas

As Americans, we do it wrong.  We celebrate Christmas for so long before Christmas that when the day comes we are done.  The tree must come down.  The lights are extinguished.    For many, the music must be silenced.   Yes will fill Advent with so much Christmas that we are almost glad to have it over when the twenty-fifth arrives.   We have turned December into such a crazy mess that we all just want a nap.

Have you sang the song?  I am sure you have.  12 days of Christmas right?  Five Golden rings.  I know.   You sang it in late November or early December, right?  Many claim this whole song is filled with Christian imagery.  That may be true, but the thing that I am certain about in that the 12 days idea is all about the church year calendar.  12 days of Christmas starting with the day and going until Epiphany (January 6).  In fact, in Germany, among many children, Christmas caroling is done on Epiphany itself.    It is also on this day that the trees come down there. ((http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2553595/celebrating_heilige_drei_koenige_epiphany.html?cat=16))

We always celebrate before the day while the church year suggests that we should celebrate on and after the day.  Same with Easter, where the church year affords us a week of weeks to celebrate.  I know that this word comes too late this year.  It sounds tiresome to me even as I write it.  But maybe next year, we save our christmasing for the day and the eleven that follow.  We refuse to follow the stores and their holiday calendars and follow the church’s instead.  We have advent and use it not for busyness but for thoughtful reflection.  And then we celebrate for 12 days.  I bet it would be much more enjoyable that the marathon we now engage in each year after thanksgiving.

Remember, it is still Christmas.  Are you still celebrating?  Or have you simply had too much?  Might you stand against the tide and next year do something differently?