Is Christmas EVER over?

Creche from Holy Land, Christmas Eve

We celebrated Epiphany this morning.  The Worship Committee met after worship, and all the Christmas decorations for which we are responsible have been carefully taken down and packed away for storage.  The pieces of the small creche made from Holy Land wood have been wrapped and are now resting in their small box until Advent returns.  Our houses look somewhat stark and barren after being filled with greenery and twinkling lights for the last 6 weeks or so.  Neighborhoods are dark again in the long winter evening.  Many have resolved to get back on diets after enjoying less than healthy but oh so tasty treats. So, it would appear to be official - it's a wrap on Christmas 2012.

But Christmas is so much more than bright lights, decorations, social gatherings, and carol singing.  Christmas is the spirit that lives in each and everyone of us that makes us remember those in our community, our nation and our world who don't have access to the bounties we enjoy.  It is the spirit that makes us want to reach out and lend a helping hand to those in need.  When we help an elderly neighbor clear an icy porch or sidewalk, we are sharing the Christmas spirit.  When we support the Circle of Concern, we share the Christmas spirit with our less fortunate neighbors.  When we purchase Free Trade items offered by the Missions Committee, we share the Christmas spirit with those in Third World countries who are struggling to achieve a higher standard of living for themselves.

 As good old Ebeneezer Scrooge says at the end of A Christmas Carol: "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."  So, I wish each and everyone who follows this site a blessed Christmas - today, tomorrow, next week, next month and each day of 2013!