“Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness,
and put on the armor of light,
now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;

that in the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;

through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
now and for ever.

Amen.”

It’s Advent season again. That means that Christmas is 24 days away.

It seems like it was Christmas a year ago that I blinked and suddenly it was February. I blinked again and it was summer. I blinked again and it was October. One more blink and here we are. Basically, time flies.

It’s my favorite time of the year. Everything is decorated and Christmas music is blasting out of just about every speaker everywhere you go. Artists who normally don’t go near Jesus or Christianity are suddenly singing about the birth of the Messiah in a little town of Bethlehem and all those angels we have heard on high.

It’s a time when my family gets out all the vintage ornaments and decorations and all the memories come flooding back. I remember both my grandmothers, my uncles, and all those who won’t be here this Christmas, and for a little while I can see all their faces and remember their voices.

Plus, this is a yearly reminder that God really did break through into history and become a baby. I listen to my favorite Christmas song, Labor of Love, and hear the words that it was not a silent night and there was blood on the ground, but that the baby in Mary’s womb was the maker of the moon and the author of the faith that could make the mountains move.

That line still gives me good chills even now.

But it’s easy to focus on all the gifts I haven’t bought yet or all the decorating still undone. I can even jump ahead to how depressing it will be to take it all down for another year in a few weeks. But maybe if I slow down and savor the season, I can hear the wordless cries of the infant in the manger who will bear my sins on a cross one day. I can see in my mind the spotless lamb who will one day be the conquering Lion of Judah.

I can remember that the real reason for Christmas doesn’t end on December 25 or even January 6, but is alive and well all the days of the year, well into 2025 and beyond.