Lauren Denton Headline
January is here, Christmas trees are piled up along neighborhood streets, and folks are spending weekends taking down the Christmas decorations. (Or if you’re like my family one year, the dried-out tree may sit in your driveway until March, but I don’t recommend that.)
The typical anticipation and excitement of the holiday season might have passed, but what many people don’t realize is that immediately after Christmas day, the traditional time of celebration begins. The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Christmastide, begin on Dec. 25 and celebrate the arrival of Jesus. The celebration ends on Jan. 6, the day of Epiphany, which marks the day the wise men arrived with gifts for the Christ child.
Our children’s minister at Red Mountain Church, Jessica Gemeinhart, talked about this recently, and it really impressed on me the idea that this celebratory posture that we all have around Christmas doesn’t have to end when the tree goes down. Usually, everyone sort of puts their heads down and powers through the next couple of cold months, waiting eagerly for spring and warmer weather. While I’m definitely one of those longing for warmer temperatures, I’m trying to keep in mind that the light that came into world is still here, and our job is to pass that light on to those around us. This is perhaps especially true in this part of the year when everyone can feel a little let down that the exciting rush of the holidays has passed.
Jessica also taught us about Advent spirals, a tradition used by some schools for young children. Advent takes place before Christmas, but the principle is applicable even after Christmas. In it, a spiral is constructed on the floor with a path laid out to the center. At the center is a lit candle. The children walk to the center of the spiral holding an unlit candle, light their candle from the one in the center and then walk back out of the spiral with their own flame. The idea is that Jesus is the light of the world, we light our flame from Him and we carry our flame out into the world.
As we walk out into this new year, maybe we can shed that light on those we come in contact with every day — starting at home and moving out from there to neighbors, co-workers, school friends and grocery store cashiers. The light is now in the world, and if it’s in me, I want to get myself out of the way and allow that light to illuminate those around me with the hope, peace and grace of Jesus.
Lauren can be reached at LaurenKDenton@gmail.com. You can also find her on Twitter @LaurenKDenton.