Christmastide 2022

Thanksgiving week was a little different this year; my mom was in the hospital so the responsibility for the bulk of the meal fell on me. By the grace of God, I pulled it off. When she was released on Wednesday, she had very little to do but rest & enjoy the Thursday meal w/ her family, which is what we all wanted for her. It was one of the first stress-free Holidays she's had in a long time & now that she's in her 80's, her kids & grandkids will have to really step up to the plate from now on.

Now that the Thanksgiving season is behind us; on it's heels comes the glorious Christmas Season! Christmas songs are playing on the radio… Christmas trees & decorations are [already] in the stores… yep, in the world of commerce, it's that time…

I'm a firm believer in Ecclesiastes 3: everything has it's time & season. I love Fall, 'love the colors & the crunchy leaves… 'love the crispness in the air… love the Fall foods, especially Thanksgiving. It bugs me when Halloween is over & many people are rushing into Christmas; Thanksgiving is usually an afterthought... a blink of an eye… the shortstop between 2^nd & 3^rd base… in the day & age we live in, by the time Thanksgiving rolls around people are already tired of Holiday songs, perhaps that's one reason why on December 26^th all signs of Christmas are obliterated until the next Halloween.

Note: in the spirit of honesty, some of this information is from learnreligions.com & whychristmas.com, two very informative sites on the Christmas season; the rest of it is from me.

Advent is the period of preparation for the Christmas Feast.

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas (the Sunday closest to November 30, the Feast of Saint Andrew) and ends on Christmas Eve. Advent is meant to be a time of preparation—of prayer, fasting, alms-giving, and repentance.

In the early centuries of the church, Advent was observed by a 40-day fast, just like Lent, which was followed by the 40 days of feasting in the Christmas season (from Christmas Day until Candlemas).

Christmas Day is the first day of the traditional Christmas celebration. In the United States, the glorious Twelve Days of Christmas is not generally celebrated, though many retailers (& some companies like Hallmark) have hijacked these days & made them the 12 days to Christmas, then on the 26^th people are taking down their trees, decorations & moving onto the next holiday.

The period of Christmas feasting continues until Epiphany, Jan. 6 (twelve days after Christmas Day), and the Christmas season traditionally continued until the feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas), February 2, a full forty days after Christmas Day!

So, you're really looking at 80 days of the Christmas season = 40 days of Advent (preparation) + 40 days from Christmas Day to Candlemas (celebration).

That's a lot for some people; myself included.

Growing up, I (like many others) always thought that Christmas ended on the night of the 25^th & that was the saddest day of my life. I have always loved Christmas & the Christmas season, but it seemed to end so abruptly. As I grew older, I started realizing that's there's so much more to it, there had to be. Why was there only one day to open presents? Why was the 25^th “the big day” & we went from it into “the long, cold Winter”. Why was it when I said “Merry Christmas” after the 25^th people would yell at me, “Christmas is over!”

There were always questions…

In my many years of research on this, I've come to really appreciate just what the Christmas season is & is all about. I savor every minute of it. In my family, we celebrate the Thanksgiving season, on the weekend after is when the Holiday decorations usually start coming out, right on Advent.

As for me personally, the past few years I've been celebrating Christmas longer & longer; the Twelve Days of Christmas are huge for me (not that I celebrate the saints I just focus on Jesus) & in the past, w/ a lump in my throat, I've taken down the tree & decorations on January 5^th or 6^th but this season, I think I'm going to do something different.

Now, I make a distinction between Winter songs & Christmas songs: Winter songs = Let It Snow, Winter Wonderland, Marshmallow World, Sleigh Ride, etc & Christmas Songs = O Come Emmanuel, O Holy Night, Hark the Herald Angels, etc. Usually, I listen to Christmas songs until January 5^th & then Winter songs for a month or two, perhaps this time I'll switch it around: Winter songs until Christmas Eve, Christmas songs until the 5^th then a hybrid of the two until February 2^nd, sometimes it's just good to switch things up.

As for Christmas movies, methinks I'll wait until Christmas Eve to start watching them, then continue until the 6^th, that might be the route to go this time around. I would love if more people (& church family) celebrated the 12 Days of Christmas, we could gather together after the 25^th & just enjoy [more of] the season w/ hot chocolate or wassail, caroling & maybe a classic Christmas movie or two…

My nephew & his wife were here from Germany for Thanksgiving & the conversation drifted to Christmas; apparently most all of Germany (perhaps Europe) celebrates the 12 Days, no tree goes up until the 24^th & yuletide celebrations continue almost a week into the new year.

Perhaps I'll try to celebrate Christmas the full 40 days 'til February 2^nd , if I can't then, as usual, Twelfth Night it ends.

We'll see how it goes, in either case, here's to the start of a very Merry Christmas Season to all of you!