Xmas is Over!

A belated “Happy New Year!” I hope your 2007 is off to a good start.  

The last two weeks brought me a predictable change of pace. It was a good thing, I guess. But I crave my routines, don’t you?  

Not to mention that there’s a lot about the holidays that I absolutely hate, the part that C. S. Lewis distinguished as “Xmas” as opposed to “Christmas.” That is to say, I like wonder but not worry, sharing but not over-spending, feasting but not gorging, traveling but not rushing.

I think about all of the stories and statistics I’ve heard over the years about people putting on weight and overspending in the season just past. And then there’s all of the drinking that turns people into menaces and puts all the rest of us on high alert. What’s good about that?  

I remember one of my church elders in Connecticut who without blinking would say, “I hate Christmas.” Yet, during our Sunday-night-before-Christmas devotionals, no one sang about Jesus Christ with more gusto and spirit than he did. He loved Christmas. He hated Xmas. The holiday season is over. I’m glad Xmas is too. Aren’t you?