Keep Jesus in your hearts, homes and lives
The Christmas rush is over. The packages have been opened. The turkey and stuffing have been eaten, and eaten again. Most of the relatives have returned home. There are no more Christmas cards bulging from the mailbox.
The days after Christmas are some of the most challenging for many people. After the hype and excitement of preparing for and celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, sometimes the days afterward feel a bit empty.
What can we do to keep the spirit of joy and goodwill alive in our lives and in our world?
When my two daughters were small something happened that helped to answer that question. My husband was the pastor of a Methodist church near Cleveland, and we lived in the parsonage next door.
On a Sunday in mid-December a stable and several bales of hay arrived on the front church lawn in preparation for the live Nativity scene that would be created there in the days to come.
When my two daughters, Sarah, then 7, and Anna, then 2, discovered the life-like manger they couldn’t resist running out to it. They insisted that they have a baby Jesus to complete the scene. I handed them a doll that they wrapped in a scarf. They proceeded to run out to the stable where they placed the doll in the manger. They stood with hands folded in prayer and stood in the cold, worshipping the baby Jesus.
Eventually I had to call them in because we had places to go and errands to run. “Just leave the baby Jesus there,” I said. Sarah immediately came and jumped in the car.
Where was Anna? I could see that she was hesitant to leave the scene, or leave the baby Jesus in the manger. I could see her look at us, then look at the baby, then look back at us. Finally, the decision was made; she grabbed the doll and jumped into the car along with quite a bit of hay. She wasn’t going to leave the baby Jesus behind.
As we creep gently into a New Year, as we move away from the beauty of Christmas, we can’t leave the baby Jesus behind. He won’t stay a baby for long. He will grow up and teach us what God is like and what God expects of us, he will live a life of love and service, and he will create God’s kingdom here on earth.
We can’t leave Jesus behind with the Christmas decorations that will eventually be put away. He needs to remain in our hearts, our homes and our lives.
XThe Rev. Kathryn T. Adams is director of Protestant Campus Ministry at Youngstown State University and pastor of Fairview United Methodist Church in Niles.