I like people. I like Christmas. But I like being unpressured, too.
Three days after Christmas, and I’m peopled out. Enough of the jollity, away with the turkey, and stuff the…….. Eek! I’ve become the Grinch!
Not really- but I’ve enjoyed today as a quiet “after the party” day with no-one else making demands. Just us two, home alone, and staying indoors out of the rain. I needed that. The high point of my “work” or creative urge today is writing this short reflection.
We’ve done the leftovers, tidied up, dozed a bit, and not a lot else. And I am guilt-free.
High tension Christmases get, well- TENSE. We must have a good time! It’s the big one, the peak of festivities, and we’re all “having a ball” through gritted teeth, not willing to be the party-pooper, the sad bore, the butt of the jokes or the one left out. We MUST be happy. It’s Christmas, after all. But it’s OK to cease the partying- and be a real human being.
I wonder what Mary felt like three days after producing Jesus? I can only imagine some of it (being a mere male) but suspect she was telling Joseph “If any MORE shepherds turn up, barbeque the sheep- and slam the door!” I can’t think that Joseph was too ho-ho-ho animated either. Odd visitors and not enough sleep will grind a man down.
Now, I’m a BIG, BIG fan of Christmas- and it’s great to celebrate together. Yet the thing I am treasuring most right now is the silence. No TV, no jabbering, no shopping. I have time to relax and reflect on what the REAL Christmas is about. Jesus has arrived, punctually according to God’s timetable. Mary & Joseph are beginning the greatest adventure, looking after this tiny scrap of God-in-flesh. Discovering the hundreds of ways a baby surprises, and the scary responsibility of guiding this vulnerable child even as the selfish pride of Herod awakens fear and jealousy in his own rotten, murderous, heart.
A strong Christian tradition suggests that Luke “interviewed” Mary directly so he could present an accurate record of the birth and childhood of Jesus. In Luke 2 v19, there is a simple sentence that should be an inspiration to all of us: “Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”
Today has been a day for just that.
The Reflectionary 