Ho-ho-hold The Christmas Meltdown!
The historic Church, of which Emmanuel is part, held Christmas for twelve days; and celebrated two other important holidays, Epiphany and Candlemas, during the 28 days immediately following Christmas. Emmanuel and other traditional churches continue that practice, and it greatly increases the love, peace, and joy of the Christmas Season. But people worn out and grumpy after a single day’s worth of Christmas, have a problem with just one day of Christmas, and twelve days plus two more holy-days, sounds like a nightmare.
I have a proble
m with one day of Christmas too; but it’s the “one”, not the “Christmas” that’s the problem. When people try to fit all the family, presents, dinner, visiting, favourite movies, and worship into just one day, the stakes become incredibly high. George Bailey and Rudolf duke it out vicariously in the living room while a fifth column action takes control of the AppleTV and starts playing Love Actually. Children exhausted by one too many presents from Grandma forget the obligatory “thank-you” and Grandma loses it with their parents.
m with one day of Christmas too; but it’s the “one”, not the “Christmas” that’s the problem. When people try to fit all the family, presents, dinner, visiting, favourite movies, and worship into just one day, the stakes become incredibly high. George Bailey and Rudolf duke it out vicariously in the living room while a fifth column action takes control of the AppleTV and starts playing Love Actually. Children exhausted by one too many presents from Grandma forget the obligatory “thank-you” and Grandma loses it with their parents.I’m a huge fan of
- Keeping Christmas for twelve days so that everyone can take time and enjoy things (let me tell you about Saint Ainfean’s day!), and
- Celebrating other feasts of the year just a little bit more so that Christmas can bear the weight of one season’s celebrating instead of a whole year’s worth.
But those are my thoughts. I’d like to read yours.