Christmas is never over

I methodically dispose of the empties, reheat the frozen leftovers, fold up the re-usable wrapping paper, make a neat stack of Christmas cards received (to be recorded in a neat spreadsheet for next year’s reference) ,  stow away the front-door wreath (having removed its dead batteries), untangle and reel the outdoor lights in truly seamanlike hanks.

All of this accompanied by the deeply satisfying thought: “We got through another Christmas, and it all happened properly!” with the deeply satisfying addendum, “And I don’t have to think about any of it again until December!”  (though inevitably it will November when the first intimation of festive events shudders into the mailbox).

But there’s one Christmas feature that does not get taken down this week. It’s the crib.

The Magi have only just arrived –Western Christians observe January 6th as the day on which the wise men finally made it, and so the figures go into the crib scene on that day, and stay there for the whole Christmas season, which goes on till mid-January – to be overtaken by what is imaginatively called “Ordinary Time.”

But for people of faith there is no Ordinary Time. Every hour of every day is infused by events of the story of faith. Delight that God came among us, sorrow that God shared our human suffering, joy that all creation comes together in God’s Beauty and Love.

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