holidays

In Place of Joy

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“For many, Christmas is no longer the day to celebrate the mystery of the birth of God among us, the God hidden in the wounds of humanity. It is no longer the day of the child, awaited with prayer and repentance, contemplated with watchful attentiveness, and remembered in liturgical solemnity, joyful song, and peaceful family meals. Instead, Christmas has become a time when companies send elaborate gifts to their clients to thank them for their business, when post offices work overtime to process an overload of greeting cards, when immense amounts of money are spent on food and drink, and socializing becomes a full-time activity. There are trees, decorated streets, sweet tunes in the supermarkets, and children saying to their parents: ‘I want this and I want that.’ The shallow happiness of busy people often fills the place meant to experience the deep, lasting joy of Emmanuel, God-with-us” (Henri Nouwen).

It seems strange for me to be posting a Christmas blog on January 7, the day after the Epiphany. But if you think about it, it makes sense. At least to me it does.

When you focus on all the wrong parts of Christmas, like the buying and getting, the wrapping and decorating, the parties and the food, then at some point it has to end. But when Christmas becomes the arrival of Emmanuel, then it never ends because Emmanuel has not left us nor will He ever.

I love all the other stuff. But it gets weird if the Christmas tree is still up and decorated in July. But I think the idea of treating others with kindness or giving to the less fortunate or being Jesus with skin on never gets old. That can be 24/7/365.

Above all, the greatest gift of Christmas is one that we can give to anybody anytime we share the hope of salvation in Jesus with anyone who hasn’t heard it before or who needs to hear it again for the 300th time. That’s the only part that we get to take with us to heaven — those who will go with us because we were faithful to share the good news.

On the Second Day of Christmas

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For some of us, we’re already counting down the days until Christmas 2026. it’s 364 days, FYI.

But for a select few, we’re prepping for those two turtle doves because it’s the second day of Christmas, culminating on the epic finale on January 6, also known as Day of the Epiphany. Also, it’s socially acceptable these days to leave your Christmas decorations up through the month of January.

But for me, my plan is to continue to listen to Christmas records and watch Christmas movies for as long as the spirit allows. I will probably run out of records before the movie stash runs out, so then I may switch over to ye olden CD player for a bit.

I love the idea of stretching Christmas out over 12 days. Back then, people opened one present a day and made the feasting last for almost two weeks. I’m not sure my waistline could handle all that, but I’m willing to try if anyone else is.

Above all, celebrating the arrival of Emmanuel should be delegated to one 24-hour period. It should be a year round event (so I’m really not going to be upset if you leave your outside Christmas lights up all year). That one single event changed the course of human history forever.

Now we have a hope. Now we have a future. Now whoever believes in Jesus doesn’t have to be lost forever but can have everlasting eternal life. And it all began when God so loved the world that He gave.

One day, I’d love to have a house where I have a room dedicated solely to Christmas 24/7/365. I’d push the Christmas tree into my Christmas room with all the other decorations. Whenever I needed a little Christmas fix, I could just go into that room. Or I’d even be happy with a Christmas closet.

But in the meantime, I can rejoice and celebrate that because of Jesus, we can be forgiven and set free. We can know the One who made us and loves us and died for us. We can have the full and abundant life not just in the heavenly hereafter but here and now. Jesus is here.

Spinning the Christmas Spirit

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For those who keep up with these blog posts of mine, you know my new favorite hobby is spinning vinyl. In non-hipster lingo, that means playing records. Now that we’re in Advent season, I love being able to drop the needle on a Christmas LP and let it take me away.

I have a mix of old and new, standard and obscure, secular and sacred. It’s the soundtrack for the season. So many of these songs take me back to my earliest memories of when I was little and hearing them for the first time. Suddenly, I can see some of the faces that had faded from my memory. I remember names I’d forgotten and miss those whom I loved who aren’t here anymore.

I love how even the most secular of artists will include a sacred selection or two. After all, it’s impossible to have Christmas without the Christ-child smack dab in the center of it all. I get that the season has been secularized and commercialized into insanity, but the music always seems to bring me back to the true meaning of what Christmas is all about.

I’m sure one of the reasons so many love music is that music originated in heaven and will be one of the first things to greet the new arrivals in heaven the moment they slip into eternity. Music is the language of heaven, so any music, no matter how far removed from its sacred origins, is a shadow and a reminder of what’s to come. I believe the best of the music here will be among the songs we’ll hear and sing around the throne of God.

So I’ll be spinning those Christmas records from now through Christmas until at least the Epiphany on January 6. Maybe even beyond if I don’t get tired of them by then. And I’ll be loving every minute of it.

Old Time’s A-Flyin’

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I heard something interesting from a movie I was watching earlier today. One of the characters said that time is basically relative. Riding 8 seconds on a bull can seem like an eternity, but so can that time between 8 am and 3 pm on a school day. I get that.

I also remember when the time between the beginning of fall and Christmas felt like forever. I was not patient as a child, so I was ready for December 25 to hurry up and get here. Now, I wish I had that time back. I wish time moved as slowly as it seemed to move back then.

Now, I blink and it’s almost Halloween. I blink again, and there will be turkey and gravy with all the fixings on the dining room table for Thanksgiving. Then it will be Christmas. I will hardly have time to process one before the other is upon us.

I suppose that is the blessing and the curse of growing older. Now, I hardly have to wait for anything anymore, but I also feel like life has increased from a marathon to a sprint finish. It’s all I can do these days to remember what month it is, much less the day.

But I’m thankful for each day. I’m thankful to God for waking me up this morning and giving me another 24 hours. I’m trying not to take life for granted when I realize that so many people my age and younger won’t get to see tomorrow. So many people I knew growing up won’t get the privilege of growing old.

I suppose I need to take a few deep breaths and savor this one and only life that I have. The Bible speaks about redeeming the time, using it wisely instead of wasting it by wanting to hurry on to the next big event, next holiday, or even the next weekend. I can live in the moment just as much on a Monday as on a Saturday.

One day, I will step into eternity. Looking back, I’m sure the entirety of this life will seem so very short in comparison. One movie I saw had this quote: “The whole human life is just a heartbeat in heaven.”

I think that’s true. Our lives this side of heaven are like the blink of an eye. But what we do in that blink determines our eternity. More accurately, the choices we make affect where we will spend eternity. Like the decision to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. That’s the one I’ve never regretted and the one I stake my hopes on as my life gets closer and closer to the ending. I’m definitely over the halfway point.

Hopefully, I can live in such a way that my legacy won’t be anything I leave behind but those who will go with me into heaven because I was a good and faithful servant and was ready to give an answer for the hope I have when people asked.

The Greater Light of the Ancient Flame

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“Give Santa Claus a place at Christmas, so long as it is not the highest place. Sing songs about flying reindeer, but let them fly lower than the angels. Set cookies and milk out on Christmas Eve, but remember that flour and sugar and cream are of lesser value than gold and frankincense and myrrh. String colored lights on every house, hang them from every tree, so long as they are lesser lights, and the greater light of the ancient flame burns brighter still” (Winter Fire: Christmas with G. K. Chesterton, Ryan Whitaker Smith).

As I’m learning, it doesn’t have to be either/or when it comes to Santa Clause or Jesus Christ, the North Pole or Bethlehem. Just as long as you keep the star of Bethlehem that shone over the place where Jesus lay in the manger over the star on your tree, you can celebrate both. At least, that’s my understanding.

What Santa represents is the spirit of giving and generosity which finds its ultimate fulfillment in the gift of Emmanuel, God with us. What the lights and decorations represent is joy, which stands on the final victory of Jesus at the cross. Every Christmas tradition points to the original Christmas story, which always points to Jesus.

And I still think the best way to celebrate Christmas is over 12 days instead of just one. But I won’t hold my breath. I won’t get upset when everybody takes down all the reminders of Christmas by the first of the new year, because I know that the real Christmas is what lives in my heart, and nothing can ever take that away.

Christmas Ain’t Over

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For years, I’d always get a little sad around this time, knowing that Christmas Day was drawing to a close and with it Christmas for another year. I’d always have a bit of a letdown, although New Year’s Eve helped a bit.

This year, I’m celebrating for as long as I can. I refuse to let go of Christmas even after all the decorations are taken down and put back into boxes destined for the attic until next November. Even when all the stores go back to business as usual and all the radio stations revert back to their regular rotation of music, I still hold on to Christmas.

I’m siding with the ancients who took 12 whole days to encapture fully all that Jesus our Emmanuel born on this day means. If you want to truly understand this concept, read the book Winter Fire: Christmas with G. K. Chesterton. It will change your thinking about Christmas for sure.

The 12 days of Christmas last from December 25 until January 6, the Epiphany which celebrates the circumcision of Jesus, the visit of the Wise Men, and the wedding at Cana, according to my internet sources. So that means that there are 11 more days to party.

But for me, Christmas isn’t a date on a calendar but a state of mind. I want to carry that mindset with me beyond January 6 into the new year and all the way up until it’s socially acceptable to celebrate Christmas again in 2025.

I will take down my tree and put away my decorations, but I won’t stop the spirit of Christmas. I might even listen to Christmas records and watch Christmas movies past January. The audacity! And as always, I will definitely be on the lookout for After Christmas Day Bargains for decorations for next Christmas.

But as one man said, Jesus doesn’t just live in our hearts one day out of the year but all the days of the year, and all the years of all our lives. So why should Christmas stop on December 25 or even January 6?

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

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What’s really worse? Someone saying “Happy holidays” or someone who doesn’t follow Jesus saying “Merry Christmas” out of obligation and not really because they mean it or understand it? Maybe worst of all is those who claim Jesus as Lord speaking “Merry Christmas” but denying the spirit of it with lives that reflect greed, rudeness, impatience, consumerism, and anger. The best witness for Christ isn’t spoken; it’s lived out as Christ becomes incarnate in our hearts and lives.

That’s something I wrote a long time ago, but it seems to still fit. People still get bent out of shape when retail employees don’t say Merry Christmas. I think at one point I was one of those, but time has a way of softening those rough edges and growing older has given me a different perspective.

Most likely, those retail workers are exhausted. They’re usually overworked and underpaid. They’re wondering about how they’re going to pay all the bills and still provide a Christmas for their kids. The whole “Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays” debate is probably the last thing on their minds.

So what is the most Christlike thing to do? Yell at them when they don’t use the correct terminology? Or maybe be kind to them? Maybe be a little more patient with them when they’re struggling because the place they’re working is understaffed?

If Jesus offered people a light burden and an easy yoke, maybe we would do better to not lay Pharisaical burdens on people. If Jesus said come to me all who are weary, who are we to drive people off because they don’t speak the magic words of Merry Christmas?

Dwight Moody (I think) once said that Christians are the only Bible most people will ever read. If that’s so, let’s make sure the message we’re sending is the message not of God far off and unattainable but God coming near to the lowly and crushed in spirit in the form of a baby in a manger who was born for all people.

Spinning the Christmas Classics

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I think music has always been an essential part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my first memories involve hearing my grandmother sing or listening to the old Elvis records.

It made sense when I got a turntable for Christmas two years ago that I’d start stockpiling a collection of Christmas records, especially the classic recordings from the likes of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Ella Fitzgerald.

It’s not like I wasn’t listening to Christmas music before 2022. I had (and still have) my massive collection of Christmas CDs that will one day all be compiled into a massive playlist somewhere. But dropping the needle on a record is like turning back the calendar to 1979 when I could hardly contain my excitement for Santa and presents.

Christmas music was actually my introduction to a lot of great music from the 40s and 50s. Pretty much all the standard versions of the holiday classics are from that era. To risk sounding like an old fart, to me the music from that era was from real singers and real musicians who didn’t need autotune or pitch correction or and kind of computer software to make indelible musical memories.

I don’t even mind having to get up every 20 minutes or so to flip the records over. The physical act makes the nostalgia so much more potent. And all those great songs are basically the soundtrack for all my Decembers for as far back as I can remember. Wrapping presents and decorating the tree isn’t quite the same without a little White Christmas from Bing or a Blue Christmas from Elvis.

And of course all those carols remind me of the real reason for the season, especially O Little Town of Bethlehem and Silent Night. There’s a reason why we still sing lyrics penned centuries ago. There’s a reason why people are still recording those hymns from the 1800s. The message is still as true and powerful now as it was 2,000 years ago on the first Christmas night.

So I guess I’ll keep playing the records and adding to my collection for as long as there are Christmases to celebrate. Christ the Lord is born today. Hallelujah!

Christmas with the King

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I ran across a Christmas poem that resonated with me deeply. This year, I have known people who have lost loved ones. I was blessed to be a part of a crew of deacons that went caroling Sunday at the homes of a couple of our widows.

This poem speaks to the Christmas experience of those who are no longer here with us. I think they’re probably having their best Christmas season ever. And the good news is that for them it never ends.

“Martha Bennett sent us this encouraging poem in a Christmas Card. Thanks Martha, Thanks for your encouragement.

I’m spending Christmas with Jesus this Year

I see the countless Christmas trees
Around the world below
With tiny lights like heavens stars
Reflecting on the snow

The sight is so spectacular,
Please wipe away that tear.
For I’m am spending Christmas
With Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs,
That people hold so dear.
But the sound of music can’t compare,
With the Christmas Choir up here.

For I have no words to tell you,
The joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description,
To hear an angel sing.

I can’t tell you of the splendor,
Or the peace here in this place.
Can you just imagine Christmas,
With our Savior face to face?

Please let your hearts be joyful,
And let your spirit sing.
For I am spending Christmas in heaven,
And walking with the King!”

As Billy Graham said that when you hear he had died, it was not true. He had simply changed his address. That’s true for all those we love who aren’t here this year. They’ve simply changed their address, and their faith has been made sight.

The Story Behind the Song

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I always love reading about classic hymns and carols and the stories of their inspiration and origins. Hymns like It Is Well with My Soul come out of tragedy and heartbreak, but the message they bring has lived on long after the writers have gone to glory.

The carol I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day has a similar story that I found recently. I’ve copied and pasted it and included the link to the original post:

“On Christmas Day in 1863, the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow listened to the bells from a nearby church, overwhelmed by loss.

Two years earlier, his wife had burned to death in a fire, and he had also been badly burned trying to save her. At times, his grief was so great that he feared that he would be sent to an asylum.

His son had also been wounded in the Civil War and was temporarily paralyzed. As he listened to the church bells, Longfellow wrote a poem that reflected his grief:

‘In despair,’ he wrote, ‘I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said.’

But he ended the poem, which was later put to music, on a note of triumph.

‘Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, good will to men’

This Christmas Day will be 161 years….and the song still brings the same sense of settledness and confident hope to millions across the globe!

Do you hear the bells!! Open up your heart and hear them this Christmas!!”