Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Aftermath

hena tayeb photography

When I was little, I'd wake up on December 26th with a groan. There were now 365 days until next Christmas! What a horrible trick. All the joy and anticipation that had been building up for weeks was gone. What was it for?

Now, the days after Christmas just feel odd. Stores have sported their Christmas finery since before Halloween and, suddenly, all the decorations have disappeared. Every ad on TV and billboard was speckled with snowflakes and holly leaves. Commercials are now back to what they once were. The multitudes participated in shopping frenzies and roads were packed. Though traffic is still heavy, cars no longer have "Christ is the Reason for the Season" stickers pasted on their bumpers or felt antlers sticking out of their windows and a red ball tied to their grill. Christmas trees line neighbors' yards and that one person with a wreath still on their door gets weird looks.

Did Christmas even happen?

Now that we have our new gadgets we're content to go back to normal life. We've finally acquired the things we'd been drooling over for months and we're ready to settle back into our routines. We get up, go to work, come home, eat and sleep. The excitement of waiting for something to happen, something bigger than ourselves, is gone.

Why is that, though? We celebrated the coming of Jesus. He is still here.  Just because the 25th has passed doesn't mean we need to stop the festivities. Now, I don't mean we should keep our Christmas lights up all year long; but, why don't we hold onto some of that extra peace and good-will towards men we all seem to have around the holidays? Why don't we keep baking our friends cupcakes? Why don't we continue to donate our time and money to charities? Why don't we continue to anxiously await the arrival of our Savior? What would that even look like?

Love, Alli


2 comments:

  1. Dear Alli,

    I dropped by here from Ann's. You posted right before me so I'm visiting my neighbor!

    I love the beauty of your site: the art, the script title, the simple quote. It is so peaceful here. I'm happy I was here.

    Dawn

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  2. Anxiously waiting is being done in my home, but sometimes I fear it is out of need for escape more than excitment about the kingdom. Isn't that the human way - wanting what is right, but for allthe wrong reasons.

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