by Joanie Butman
Boxing up Christmas is certainly not as much fun as decorating in anticipation of the holidays. Maybe because we shouldn’t be trying to fit Christmas into storage boxes. My parents were onto something when they resigned themselves to leaving their decorations up all year long. It started with a screen to hide the tree. When that got too heavy and cumbersome, my mom just threw a sheet over the tree. Even that was eventually discarded without apology. Anytime you needed a little Christmas cheer (even in July) you could count on a visit to their home.
Santa and Mrs. Claus
Truth be told, their type of Christmas cheer has little to do with decorations. The light of Christmas shines through their faith, and the endearing twinkle in my dad’s eyes despite his dementia. I’ve written before about my dad’s long tenure as Santa. He embodied the essence of Santa Claus for our family, and for countless numbers of children in New York and New Jersey throughout his life - particularly to those less fortunate than us. His love of giving to others was evident not only at Christmas time but all year long. A close friend of his once commented, “Lou’s been Santa for a lot of people even when he doesn’t have his costume on.” My dad’s love of Christmas was contagious as love is meant to be. He didn’t do this alone of course. He had Mrs. Santa behind him making it all possible – as she continues to do so well.
Humanity has been trying to confine God to neat little boxes for centuries when there isn’t a box big enough to contain His glory. His love and mercy are meant to be on display all year long. The light of Christ that was given on that first Christmas will never be extinguished. Lights of love, mercy, kindness, compassion, forgiveness and encouragement are what we are meant to shine into a dark world.
We can pack away our decorations, but as Howard Thurman so eloquently states, that is when the work of Christmas begins. Something we would do well to remember this week as a new administration takes office. Regardless of your political party, we have a lot of work ahead of us to reunite this nation. The only way I know to accomplish this daunting task is by letting the light of Christ guide us forward. The Christmas lights He wants to remain lit are ones of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Surely, we can all choose to agree on those. Finally, we need to choose to keep Christ’s light burning brightly in our own lives if we hope to tackle the work of Christmas that Thurman describes.
The Work of Christmas
by Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.