The Day After

December 26, 2001, 12:01 a.m. I personally declare I survived Christmas. And as always, I had a wonderful time shopping for gifts and other expressions of love – decorating the five-year-old Christmas tree with sparkling tivoli lights and glistening adornments, wrapping gifts, e-mailing new and old friends, dining, wining, dancing, singing yuletide carols to lift the spirit, joining outreach programs, counting and sharing life’s blessings – and communing with God.

I really love Christmas. I always have and always will. That is the child in me, I guess, and that child will remain as long as I believe in Christmas and the change, transformation, upliftment, renewal and the revitalizing feeling it brings.

To some, the day after Christmas may evoke a different kind of feeling – termed the post-Christmas blues. One may feel crabby because he’s broke or overweight from too much ham and fruitcake. The letdown is magnified by the abrupt ending of the season after months of anxious preparation, plus the prospect of going back to the "salt mines" and the same humdrum of life. Of course, there’s always fear of what the new year will usher.

But as our spiritual friends will tell us, there should be no room for despair – for with every great event in which God is at the center, there is a lesson to be learned: that Christmas is a celebration that can last for as long as we make it, not just one day in December, but for all times, all seasons. The human qualities of love, peace, joy, friendship, remembrance, and giving of oneself which come bountifully during Christmas must continue to flow as if they know no bounds.

The initial response to uncertainty is paralysis. Decisions of all kinds are suspended or deferred. We see it all around us–it feels like time is standing still the day after Christmas.

But, of course, it doesn’t – and shouldn’t.

As we take down the tree and decorations of this season, let us be careful not to pack away the real meaning, spirit, and attributes of Christmas. It is the birth of our savior, who was not destined to be packed, shelved away, and hidden in our basements or attics. He came not only for one season in our lives, but rather live in the rooms of our hearts and souls forever.

If He dwells in us, then there will be no post-Christmas blues, no troublesome worries for the coming year, and no fear that will stifle us – ever!

Just remember this beautiful, anonymously written Christmas greeting when the "Day After" syndrome hits you:

When the song of angels is stilled
When the star in the sky is gone
When the kings and princes are home
When the shepherds are back with their flocks
The work of Christmas really begins
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the captives
To rebuild nations
To bring peace among peoples
To make a joyful noise unto the Lord and music in the heart
Lo, live Christmas for ever
For unto us a child is born.