Well, Christmas Day is over for another year.
At this time of the year, I am always reminded of W. H. Auden’s Poem, “For the Time Being.” In this poem he writes: “Well, so that is that… we’ve gotten through Christmas once again, perhaps in spite of ourselves …” but it is over now. “Once again, as in previous years, we have seen the actual Vision and failed to do more than entertain it as an agreeable possibility.” So, it’s back to the old world we left behind for just a bit on Christmas Eve, and, perhaps, that makes us weary. “And yet,” Auden continues, “and yet the Vision will not entirely go away. We almost wish it would.” Auden concludes, “To those who have seen the Child, however dimly, however incredulously, the time being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.”
For me, what Auden is describing is more subtle, more profound than what is popularly referred to as the ‘after Christmas blues.’ Like the Wise Men and for those who have truly seen the star, it will not easily fade away. The sense of wonder, the capacity to dream and the joy of that holy night continues to catch our imagination. The sense of wonder, the capacity to dream, the joy which we knew in our hearts as we went to Bethlehem to see what had come to pass won’t easily go away. We still long to know it right here—in the midst of our old routines, right here where we are… in our world that Christmas doesn’t seem to have changed very much.
Friends, be of good courage. Continue to be bathed in the star’s light. God is with us. We have Peace – not as the world gives; but peace knowing that God loves you and me so much that we were sent a tiny baby. Let the joy of the birth of Christ give rise to new joys throughout the year!
God bless you and keep you! |