I\u2019ve made my peace with seeing Christmas decorations in stores well before Thanksgiving. <\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m down with the pagan influences on the holiday. I\u2019m cool with hanging greens, decorating with holly and ivy, lighting yule logs, and setting up Christmas trees. <\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m hip to honoring the winter solstice.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I mean it\u2019s not like Christians aren\u2019t affected by the mood affecting darkening of days, and the primal, collective joy that comes with the return of increased daylight after Dec. 21st<\/sup>.<\/p>\n I look forward to putting gifts from Santa Claus into my kid\u2019s stocking (remembering who St. Nicholaus really was).<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019m perfectly fine if people wish me \u201cHappy Holidays\u201d instead of \u201cMerry Christmas.\u201d We live in an era when folks can\u2019t assume that everyone\u2019s a fellow Christian and it really does cover more aspects of the holiday season. I\u2019m not troubled by \u201cXmas\u201d \u2013 as X has long been a symbol for Christ (X simply being short for \u03a7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2).<\/p>\n And I\u2019m even cool with \u201cFestivus\u201d \u2013 a parody secular holiday that offers a non-commercial way of celebrating that mid-winter time of the year.<\/p>\n What I\u2019m not<\/em><\/strong> willing to accept and accommodate is the stressful madness and rush to \u201cbe ready for \u00a0Christmas.<\/a>\u201d<\/strong> To have all of our gifts bought, wrapped, and delivered by December, 25th<\/sup> \u2013 as if that<\/em> were what we are supposed to be ready for.<\/p>\n One of my Facebook acquaintances recently posted a status update that smuggly stated, \u201cHappy to have all of my Christmas shopping completed.\u201d It was posted on November 22.<\/p>\n Then came a flurry of comments posted by that person\u2019s FB pals either conveying that they too have most or all of their shopping done in an ugly display of competitive Type A ridiculousness (some even bragging about getting their shopping done far earlier)\u2013 or, alternately, re-actively expressing how they are no where near<\/strong> ready <\/em>and that they need to get busy<\/em> shopping to \u201cbe ready\u201d for the big day.<\/p>\n \u2026Tis the season to be <\/em>anxious?<\/em><\/p>\n Some back-story: It wasn\u2019t until several centuries into Christian history that the birth of Jesus became something for Christians to celebrate; i.e., starting in 336 A.D. Celebrating the great joy of Jesus\u2019 resurrection at Easter has always been the big event. For the vast majority of Christian history, Christmas was a rather low-key event without much fanfare \u2013 let alone anxiety<\/em> connected to it. And when a holiday marking Jesus\u2019 birth was created (on a date that would intentionally rival and supplant the winter solstice and the Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) the focus was on Advent<\/strong> \u2013 the 5 weeks leading up to Christmas. Advent is a time of \u201cwaiting\u201d and is sort of a \u201cwinter Lent.\u201d A time of fasting and prayerful contemplation \u2013 which culminates in a 12 day holiday of breaking-fast and feasting that ends the day before Epiphany.<\/p>\n It was when Clement C. Moore wrote his famed poem for his children A visit from St. Nicholas<\/em>\u00a0<\/a> \u201cTwas the night before Christmas\u2026\u201d in 1823 that things began to shift. Word about that whimsical poem spread across the land and it\u2019s been printed and reprinted in newspapers ever since. While technically, December 24th<\/sup> is \u201cthe day before Christmas,\u201d Christmas isn\u2019t a one day holiday. There are twelve<\/em><\/strong> days of Christmas\u00a0<\/a> and there is no Godly reason for any of us to have our shopping done before those days have come and gone. Friends, baby Jesus doesn\u2019t coo any more gently or grin anymore radiantly if you buy all of your gifts that you\u2019ll be giving to others in His name by Dec. 25. Heck, he was probably born in the spring anyway.<\/p>\n Add to that Coca Cola\u2019s<\/em> Santa themed advertising campaign of the early 1900\u2019s, the mass distribution of cheap crap made overseas via Woolworth\u2019s<\/a>,<\/em> Sears & Roebuck, Macy\u2019s,<\/em> and a big dose of Madison Avenue\u2019s advertising machine \u2014 and voila<\/em>! Here we are today rushing off to stores the day after (or even day of<\/em><\/a>) Thanksgiving \u2014 pushing and fighting our way through teeming hoards vying to get their grubby hands on the \u201cit\u201d gifts of the year.<\/p>\n Another major factor in all of this is that corporations don\u2019t follow the Church year and calendar\u00a0 \u2013 which begins the 1st<\/sup> Sunday of Advent and ends at Christ the King Sunday. Corporations follow the secular calendar as their fiscal year and they have a very vested interest in getting as many sales transactions as possible before December 31st .<\/sup> And yet, that\u2019s only the 7th<\/sup> day of Christmas! There\u2019s five more days of celebrating to go! <\/em>Five<\/em> more days of saying \u201cMerry Christmas! Five<\/em> more days of feasting. And five<\/em> more days of giving gifts celebrating the birth of our beloved window into God\u2019s heart and character \u2013 Jesus.<\/p>\n Do we really want to be giving each other black eyes in crowded lines on \u201cBlack Friday?\u201d<\/p>\n Do we really want to reduce our celebrating of the birth of God\u2019s presence among us to just one measly day?<\/p>\n Is freaking-out and being anxious in any<\/em> way coming from a place of faith? Remember, the angels and even Jesus himself told us to \u201cFear not.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of seeing getting ready for Christmas as a mad dash to the Dec. 25th<\/sup> finish line, how about taking some time to truly savor the season of Advent. Take some time to go inward and to contemplate your life and your God. Take some time to take stock of things and reassess your priorities. Take some time to consider what things might be helpful to ensure that you end the year with relationships as reconciled and harmonious as possible.<\/p>\n And instead of taking down your tree and lights \u201cthe day after Christmas,\u201d take some time to truly savor and enjoy a long warm drink of the 12 days of love<\/a> that are Christmas.<\/p>\n \u201cI get it \u201c\u2013 you\u2019re saying. I\u2019m making a cute point and sharing a bit of interesting trivia and you\u2019re giving me an appreciative smile and nod and hoping to carry on with your day. But watch this. Let me show you how taking this approach to Christmas will not only reduce your stress, but also save you money.<\/strong> Let\u2019s take a page from the worldly playbook and let\u2019s \u201cOccupy\u201d Christmas by purchasing many of our gifts after<\/em> Dec. 25<\/strong> and spread out our giving of them throughout those 12 Days<\/strong>. Perhaps just giving the \u201cSanta\u201d gifts on Dec. 25, etc. \u201cOkay. Nice. But about the saving money<\/em> part?\u201d<\/p>\n Psst.<\/em> All of the stores put all of their merchandise on greatly reduced sales prices<\/em><\/strong> starting \u2026drum-roll\u2026 Dec. 26<\/strong> \u2013 which they (and we) mistakenly think is \u201cthe day after Christmas.\u201d Seriously, you can buy far more gifts for far less money this way! Including gifts of needed financial contributions to churches and charities. We can also make hand made gifts \u2014 and simply spend more quality time with our loved ones too.<\/p>\n Being good stewards of time and finances is being faithful. \u201cGetting everything ready by Dec. 25\u201d \u2014 is, well, something other than that. Besides, how can any of us be truly ready<\/em> for what God has done for us through that scrappy little dreamer who grew up to cause such a liberating ruckus in the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n My prayer for us is that we\u2019ll consider each of these 12 blessed days as ways to take back Christmas, save money, and stay at least a bit more sane.<\/p>\n Noel. Rev. Roger Wolsey is an ordained United Methodist pastor who directs the Wesley Foundation at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and is author of Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don\u2019t like christianity <\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/396\/2013\/11\/iv16OPQh1HLs.jpg\" "\\"iv16OPQh1HLs\\"")
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\nxx \u2013 Roger<\/em><\/p>\n