By Rev. William Dohle
Well, the Christmas season is upon us.
As much as I've wanted to crawl in a hole and hide from the holiday season, it's here! Again! And it's early this year I think. This year I saw my first Christmas commercial at the beginning of October and already my dear wife has begun watching The Hallmark Channel's Christmas specials. (12 specials for 6 weeks!) Already tears have been shed over one sweet story or another. And already(and I do mean already) the Christmas gifts have been bought for the children and all is prepared. (Yes, you read that right).
For all the fuss we make over Christmas, it's amazing how fast the holiday truly goes. We spend two to three months getting everything ready. The presents get bought. The tree comes out. The lights go up. The candy and cookies are bought. All is prepared for a holiday that lasts...
Just... One... Day.
That's right. Just one day. For most of us anyway. Most of us will spend the our time on the front end of the holiday, getting everything ready for the big December 25th day. And then, once everything is unwrapped and eaten, we'll be as quick as can be to get it all taken down and boxed away for another year.
It's sad how long our holidays last. They usually only last a day. No more.
Even the 4th of July lasts longer than Christmas sometimes I think, with parades in the morning, barbeque in the afternoons, and fireworks in the evening.
But where does this all come from? Where do our holidays originate from?
The first mention of a holiday, or Holy Day if you want to parse it out, comes from the book of Exodus. Here the people of Israel are instructed to have three festivals.
"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me." And how long are they to be? Well, in the center of Exodus we only have details of one. "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you." This festival, known as the Passover or Seder, lasts seven days.
The Bible here doesn't go into detail of the rest, but I can say from watching my Jewish friends, that their holidays last a whole lot longer than ours.
Hanaukkah, the festival of lights coming about at the end of the month, lasts 8 days.
The Season of Rosh Hashanna lasts 8 days.
The Festival of Tabernacles lasts another 8 days.
There are others...but these are the most well known ones.
And notice how long they last!? 8 days! These people of God do not just celebrate for a single hour or even a single day, but an entire week! 8 days is the usual time they spend in holiday dedicated to God! That's some celebration!
The Christian church tries to extend the celebrating some. Christmas doesn't last just one day, but twelve. The season of lent, a time of personal reflection leading up to Holy Week, lasts 40 days. And the celebration of Easter resurrection takes the cake at a whopping 50 day celebration!
Imagine if we actually celebrated this long. Imagine if we paced ourselves and instead of using all of our good will on one day(or even on the days leading up to that one day) we used it instead on a whole season from that day on. What would our lives be if the holidays weren't just one day...but many?
God invites us here to do just that. To make the celebration last. God invites us here to extend our festivals whenever and wherever we can, to pause before we take down our Christmas tree after the holiday and just enjoy the season for what it is, and to realize, ultimately, the only thing we have with each other is time. That time will never come again.
This Christmas stop. Just stop. Treasure the moments between each of the gifts opened. Look deeply in the eyes of your loved ones. Cherish the smiles and the laughter and the life you see reflected back at you. Christmas 2013 will never come again. All you will have to remember it is your memories and the pictures you take. So cherish it, extend it, and enjoy it, for that is what God would have you do.
May God bless your preparations for Christmas. May God help you get all ready for the first day. And may God help you extend your celebrations to the whole Christmas season.
God, you invite us to celebrate and party like no other god can. Give us grace that we may relax and enjoy the season as we celebrate the birth of your Son. Amen.
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