It's Not Over...(Although it May Look that Way)

There's something poignant about putting away all the Christmas decorations during the first couple of days of the new year, for at the precise time that many people are saying that Christmas has come and gone for another year, the reality is that on January 1 and for 5 days after we are still in the Christmas season. I think the pangs of poignancy come because the trappings of the season are tangible expressions of the joy of Christmas, and to take it all down can make it very easy to let it slide on into the history books for another year.

Among all the resolutions or promises or whatever you may call it for the upcoming year, I hope and pray that we all will use the turning of the calendar and the time of packing away the Christmas decorations as motivation to live in such a way that Christmas is never far from our thoughts and minds, for the arrival of Christ in the world is what puts everything in its proper perspective.

The decorations may be packed, but when we live in such a way that our deep involvement in the community of faith, the church, is the starting point for our interaction with all of creation, while it may not always be perfect or go according to plan, we will definitely be in a much better position to keep Christ not only in Christmas, but in all of life.

Grace and Peace, Lamar