Christmas is tiring...

There is so much to do all the time. It’s all fun but just a lot. Maybe that is a sign of age on my part.

Now comes the bad part of taking down all those decorations that took so much time and energy to put up. The good thing is they come down much faster than they went up. It is still a chore though.

Why is that? The most enjoyable times of our lives involve so much time, energy and sweat. It was said by a coworker at a funeral that his friend believed work could and should be fun (not a quote). If that is true and I think it is, then the inverse is true fun can be work. Why is it that fun is not fun but only work sometimes?

The answer is our missing the point. We see this at Christmas when we concern ourselves with decorations, cookies and party themes to the point that we miss the people. After all Christmas is a story of God loving people so much he gave his only Son. It is easy to miss the point in all of the hoop la and “good times” leaving us feeling tired, discouraged and well tired (yes I said it again). Family and friends are the point. They are the ones who make us wonderful. “No man is a failure who has friends,” Clarence tells George in the holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life.  There George missed the point of life and living and Christmas. He was tired and discouraged when the worst happens and all seems lost. In the movie it takes Clarence and the experience of life without his influence to bring him back to God, remember the prayer? On a side note it is Mary his wife who spreads the word of the problem and the people respond. George missed the point.

Christmas is tiring because …well...it is however it is not pointless or without fun. It is the people who make the difference. It is the person Jesus who changed everything. People make the difference. Maybe the answer is to not concern myself with the details and just let the fun be fun with the people.

People make the memories as we spend time together at the holidays and any day. That is the point. Love God and Love people, simple really. It’s all the other stuff that makes us so tired. I need a nap. Maybe I will find some of my family and together we will take a nap.

Happy New Year to you and yours. We will meet again next year!                  

The Rev