Partridges. Pear Trees. A bunch of ladies milking cows and land-owning men doeing jazzercise. When we Americans think of "The 12 Days of Christmas," these are the images that come to mind. It's a silly song that may or may not have a deeper meaning. On the one hand of deeper meaning, it might have been written in England during the great days of Christian persectuion in the 1600s in orderly to secrtely teach children doctrine.Or, on the other hand: it could simply be a catchy tune about a man who went on an epic bipolaresque spending spree, sending lots of birds to a woman he might have been in relationship with...or was simply stalking.
The world may never know.
But one thing I do know for certain: we Americans would only consider 12 Days of Christmas to be a song and nothing more; for we consider Christmas to be one singular day worth celebrating. The end. Lights out. That's all, folks.
Maybe it's that all the office parties & social gatherings we've endured by Christmas Day have given us social anxiety. Maybe it's all the fruitcake and wassail we've scarffed down has given us heartburn. Whatever the case may be, by December 26th, most people I meet seem to be ready to put the whole Christmas celebration behind them.
I'll confess, this tendency to hurridely pack away Christmas and shove it in the attic has me more melancholy than usual this season. I think it's because I realize, the older I get, how hurridely we live our lives. Christmas was never meant to be a day we build up to and then forget; it was made to be a season - a festival of remembrance that we keep in honor of the incarnation: that glorious, miraculous, mysterious event that transformed all of history. Instead, within a few days of December 25th, I can walk my neighborhood and see the lights coming off of the houses and the trees drug out to the curb; I walk into stores and find - even days before December 25th - that Valentine's Day candy and cards are already taking up residence on the shelves. It's heartbreaking, really.
I've been asking myself a lot this past month, "Why? Why are we in such a hurry to get to the next thing? What's our problem with Christmas?"
We could blame the commericalism that wearies us. For long before Thanksgiving arrives, Christmas sales & entertainment is already advertised in abundance, and by Christmas Day, we have had our fill of Santa pushing some product on us. This isn't a new problem by the way: Saint Francis in 1223 AD wrote that materialism was overshadowing the spiritual things of Christmas and therefore created the nativity scene to bring people's focus back to Christ. I can't even imagine what materialism would have looked like in 1223, the height of the Middle Ages...
"Mother, can thouest and I travel to market and purchasheth a new dress for the public flogging?"
"Only after thine Gregorian chant lessons."
But, to my point: materialism is nothing new. But I think this is simply a symptom of the Christmas problem.
We could blame our need, then, as Americans to be productive. There is not a snowballs chance in you-know-where that Americans could take off work for 12 whole days for a nationally observed holiday. We don't even observe Boxing Day like the Brits do. Holidays are marked in red on our calendars by our government for one day and one day only. Never ever will you find a holiday that last longer than 24 hours."Don't be ridiculous," the American Dream scorns to us. "After all," it says, "if we work hard, we will have what we desire for a good life. Now get moving." And so we comply.
And I think this, too, is simply a symptom of the Christmas problem.
We could blame the Puritans and their overreaction to Cathotlic feasts & traditions. After all, our Puritan ancestors outlawed Christmas in 1659 New England, with its feasting and palpacy. Fast forward, and anything that celebrates a holy day a littttle too long, and we get suspicious. For the average American Chrisitan, if someone appraoches us and says, "What are you doing for Epiphany?" we side-eye them with thousands of years of inbred judgment, questioning their religion.
And, even this, I believe is a symptom of the Chrsitmas problem.
So, what is the problem then, you ask? I wish I completely knew. But in my lowly opinion, I think all of the "conditions" above feed into the greater sickness that lies at the heart of the Christmas problem, and I speak to us, the church: we have lost our ability to truly wonder. And in order to wonder well, we must take time- to linger there - at that place of whatever it is we are wondering at - allowing ourselves to realize how worshipful our wonder is to the Lord. Lingering, then, in that place of fascination with the truths of Christmas, awakens in us a worship so moving, it cannot be contained to 1 mere day.
In the year 567 AD (yes, that long ago), the church leaders at the Council of Tours sought to bring together the Western church and the Eastern church. The West recognized December 25th as the holiest day of the season - the incarnation. The Eastern church recognized January 6th - the day that recognized both the wise men's visit and Jesus' future baptism, a day also known as Epiphany - as the holiest Day of the season. In other words, they each had their own special day to wonder. The church's solution? Make the entire 12 Days a celebration of holy days unto the Lord. And I think they had the right idea. While the Council of Tours was doing their best to simply bring a solution to the holiday conflict, I believe they presented us with an opportunity to wonder deeply like no other Holy Day has ever done. Christmas is no more meant to be a day any more than the season of Christmas is meant to be a chance to overspend and overeat. The story that is Christmas is far too deep and far too wide to relegate to one or two days. The incarnation and the star and the wise men and the geneaology and the prophecies fulfilled that all make up this incredible Christmas moment are each worthy of their own day of wonder.
Holidays - or Holy Days as they were first called - are marked with red and set apart on our calendars,not because the government marks them as such; but because God's people mark them as such in order that we may pause and think about Who it is we celebrate. Remembrance and meditation should accompany each holiday as well as savoring the richest of foods with joy and laughter, not because Macy's or Hollywood or Betty Crocker has made a season for us to enjoy, but because our God did. This Season was birthed by the Holy Spirit and markeby the Church in remembrance of His glorious appearing. Why, then, do we feel the need to follow the rhthyms of the secular world around us, as it rushes on to the next festive occassion or back to the grind of daily life? What if we, His people, actually took the time to linger a little longer in the presence of Immanuel this season, pondering a little deeper, worshipping a little longer than we ever have before? We may just find that the Christmas problem is solved and we may just find that 12 Days of Christmas is a good place to start.
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