Begone, You Wilted Bane of My Existence. I Can Still Celebrate Christmas Without You…

… I couldn’t take it anymore. The tree had to go.

Christmas. More like chrismess. Needles and dead greenery everywhere. And the crippled, pathetic thing kept tipping over.

Now don’t mistake me. I’m no Grinch, typically I’m a Christmas purists who keeps her tree up at least until Epiphany. I tried keeping all the decorations up until Candlemas one year but, oh, the fire hazard.

I just don’t get how dead, shriveled greenery is supposed to recall the birth of Christ. I suppose in that sense I can see the allure of fake trees, if fake trees weren’t such an unholy abomination that makes the Baby Jesus Weep.

This is the year I’ve decided you don’t need picture perfect decorations to keep the spirit of Christmas alive through the season. Really all it takes, in the way of decorations, is a simple nativity icon and a single candle.

While all the decorations are beautiful, they can be a distraction. In my case, it just becomes more work and who needs more work? A single icon, prominently displayed, does more to draw my focus toward Christmas than a house full of decorations, which can start to feel overwhelming after a few weeks.

I know it seems contrary to remove decorations in order to focus more on the party, but technically speaking, it’s not so much the party that’s important but the Host.

Even though the rest of the world has moved on there are tons of little things you can do to continue to celebrate Christmas.

Just because they’ve stopped playing Christmas music on the radio doesn’t mean you can’t continue to listen to Christmas music. Pandora.com has some really nice channels that let you hear Classical Christmas music and Choral Christmas Hymns. That stuff on the radio is mostly garbage anyway. Invest in a CD or two to play in the car, home, or at work – something like this or this.

Change out your typical daily prayers with Christmas themed prayers. There are loads of resources online. Catholic Culture or Catholic Online is a good start.

And just because the Angel Trees have been removed from the malls doesn’t mean our charitable giving has to cease. A lot of shelters need volunteers after the holiday to help organize, sort, and distribute the influx of donations they received last month. Sponsor a child or elderly person this year or just decide to be more charitable in character to the people involved in your life.

And lastly, be an example of humility. Christ’s birth in the manager is the epitome of humility. I’m no expert on humility, but I know personally where I can start. I can chose my battles and suppress the need to always be right. I can set aside my intellectual pride and liturgical superiority complex in favor or charity, patience, kindness and understanding. I’m certainly in no position to tell you were you need to practice more humility in your lives but I ‘d wager you have a pretty good idea where to start.

So Merry Christmas everyone and good riddance, tree!