Christmas Blues and Christmas

12 days to Christmas. I am so excited for my first trip with my son. But as the day approaches and Christmas carols reverberate more frequently in the neighborhood, especially at night, I cannot help but be depressed –this is my first Christmas as a single dad. Ahh! The year had passed so quickly. Although, I take comfort that my sibling will provide a shelter for me not to feel blue this Christmas. While we are at it, may I ask: What is Christmas really? How do I tell my son about it? What is so special about this season?

In the Christendom, that is easily answered by virtue of the birth of the Messiah, the savior of the world. I hope that is the real focus of our celebrations. But really, in a different context, what is Christmas? Why celebrate? This season is being celebrated universally. Why is that? Is it because Chritsmas carries with it an aroma of love, joy, peace, and reconciliation which we never experience or probably ignore throughout the year? Can we not have the same spirit felt in 365 days? Ray Stannard Baker shares my sentiment on this when he said:

I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays, let them overtake me unexpectedly, waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: 'Why this is Christmas Day!

I don’t want to have a blue Christmas nor do I want to be blue for the rest of the year. Like Ray, 'I like to take my Christmas a little at a time through the year.' It is my hope and prayer that the true meaning of Christmas will be carried and lived beyond the season of our celebration.