Dear Reader,
Christmas seems like just a short while ago and an eternity ago. I put the last of the decorations in the church office away last week. (I like to leave out the manager scene until Three Kings Day.), but there are still wax stains on some of the pews as stubborn little reminders that Christmas was in fact not that long ago. I really do enjoy the holidays, it’s like the end of the year isn’t really real, it’s like a waiting period for the New Year to begin. Sometimes I am glad that it is over so things can go back to normal. And there have been some years that I was eager for the season to be over, but it still shocks me when people are like “Thank God, it’s over” as if it was an inconvenience.
Now I understand that the holidays can be hard for some people for a plethora of reasons, but the widespread eye roll attitude of the holidays troubles me. Since when has it become too inconvenient to celebrate the things that give us life? During Christmas, we are literally celebrating the Life Giver, but even Thanksgiving gives us life, in a way. We get to gather with friends and family, eat, and then terrorize our favorite relatives to show affection. We as humans are meant to be in communion with one another, and that has become too much of a hassle that we cannot celebrate important things together.
Now I know that holidays have been heavily commercialized, and I definitely think that we can do away with a lot of the pressure that comes with that. But we can reprioritize things. Maybe we don’t have to make all of activities associated with each holiday, you definitely will never find me lining a New York sidewalk to watch a ball drop or see cartoon character balloon. But I am going to make the effort to go to my grandparents on Christmas, I am going to come to Thanksgiving even if I spend most of it reading a book in a corner, I am going ring in the New Year with friends and family in my back yard while my brother lights off 2,000 firecrackers. Why? Because these things are important to remember and it’s important to have community. We have lost the importance of days being special.
In the old days, Christmas used to be celebrated for 12 days, but that kind of fell out of favor after the Reformation (think Martin Luther). While I agree with a lot of the reformers about church doctrine, I think that some people got overzealous in erasing anything remotely Catholic, and that we lost a lot of good practices. The modern Evangelical church is much the same. We shy away from traditions and rituals that can be tools to remind us of why we are here because we are afraid it will become rote religion. But I think that there is a beauty in doing things over and over because it disrupts the everyday to make us pay attention. And if twelve days of paying attention means celebrating, and feasting, and resting from our work and in the presence of those we love, I am up for that! It sounds more relaxing and pleasant than trying to cram everything into two days.
Our modern society has forgotten how to slow down and savor things in any capacity. We can’t even just savor celebrating everyday life without having to rush on to the next thing. Saturday night get togethers are riddled with the time lost to get things ready for Sunday, and Sunday afternoon visits are edged with the need to make sure everything is ready for Monday. And by Friday night, everyone is too tired to do anything fun. We have even forgotten how to celebrate everyday life, let alone holidays.
No one lingers anymore. Lingering in conversation is considered clingy. Calling someone to hang out because we are lonely is considered needy. Some people need to have a bucket of cold water dumped on them and then told they are too needy when they ask for a towel. I read a story one time about a man who lived in the Soviet Union and during a “reeducation” speech he had to attend, he asked to speak. He got up, threw his chair on the floor, and walked over and smacked the speaker. When the speaker reacted in anger, he asked the speaker why he was angry, when the speaker had just said that humans were just organic matter the same as the chair, and the chair didn’t react with any emotion. (The man was promptly arrested.) We cannot deny that we are creatures with a soul.
So may this year be the year where you learn to linger and savor. May your days be filled with slow sunrises and sunsets, good hugs and long conversations, and the knowledge that God created you to have relationships with others and with Him.
Sincerely,
The Rancher’s Daughter
P.S. If you were wondering, my brother really did set off 2,000 firecrackers over the course of New Year’s Eve.
From the Rancher's Daughter's Desk 