Putting Away Christmas

"Christmas is OVER!"

That's a catch-phrase that -though harsh sounding- has been cast around often in my family. When I was little, Dad would say that kind of thing just to get a rise out of the kids as they mounted their protest.

I always did hate to see the holiday end.

Still do.

But, now there is something refreshing about putting away all the decorations and getting back to something-like-normal.  As a family, we try to hold Christmas at bay until Thanksgiving - then we plunge into the celebrating headlong.  We watch practically nothing but Christmas movies, we listen only to Christmas music, we observe advent, and numerous other things related exclusively to Christmas.

After that month of frenzied rejoicing and revelling, the return to the mundane is okay.

I remember though, how sad I could get as a boy when we had to take down the decorations.  I saw that sadness recently in my own son, as we discussed the fact that we would be using one of my off-days to do just that.  Our daughter doesn't seem to have as much difficulty with that - she is very involved and active - she can't wait to get back to school with her friends.

As I returned to work yesterday, I thought about putting away Christmas.

Perhaps we do need to put away the "trappings" of Christmas - but not the spirit.  It would do us good to keep the focus of Christmas - God's Gift of His only Son for our redemption - always on display before our thoughts.

Jesus, Himself, along with the Christmas Couple had to "move on" after that first Christmas . . . and as I recall, rather abruptly.  "Normal" came knocking at their door rather quickly as they fled from a squad of soldiers dispatched for destruction.

They got about the business of putting the Gift of that first Christmas to work.  A work that would not be completed until Jesus uttered the words... "it is finished."

His subsequent death and resurrection sealed the deal and our adoption into God's family became a reality.

What a dysfunctions story it would have been, had that family said "let's just stay here in the stable - drinking spiced cider with the shepherds and singing Chrismas Carols!".

No, they moved on to the REAL work of Christmas.

So, like Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge we must decide to always "keep Christmas in our hearts" and get about the work of providing evidence to the world around us that God's original Christmas Gift really does make a difference.