Dear Caldwell,
We will gather tonight at 5:30 p.m. for our Christmas Eve service – to hear the old, old story, to sing Christmas favorites and to celebrate the coming of the Light of the world. My meditation is titled “Christmas Through the Eyes of the Other.”
So, hear the Good news: our wait is almost over. Come, O Come.
As for tomorrow, we welcome Christmastide, a season all its own. To mark this new time of praise, the Caldwell Young Adults will be taking the Light into the world in small but meaningful ways. You are invited, too. To read more, I’ve reprinted my newsletter column on that subject below. Hope to see you a little later.
In Christ,
John
The 12-Day Effect
One of the joys of Advent each year is sharing its meaning, both newfound and recovered, in the lives of others. Now, our time of waiting is almost over. In worship, we’ve moved beyond the Advent hymns to singing Christmas favorites.
Advent holds us back until the very moment we can wait no more. Our hope is pooled up as water brimming at the top of a dam, ready to flow it over or break it down altogether, taking with it, we pray, whatever weariness or despair we feel and carrying us into a new year of joy and growth.
The Caldwell young adult fellowship has taken time this year to get reacquainted with Advent, both its ancient meanings and its new. That sharing, in person and on Facebook, not only helped us appreciate our time of expectation; it also inspired a new intentionality about what comes next, the Christmas season.
You remember the Christmas season, don’t you? Christmas, after all, is not the morning you open your gifts before going to the movies in the afternoon and then beginning to dread the task of taking down the tree and the decorations. Christmas is a twelve-day season of jubilant praise that Christ has come to dwell among us.
What if, one member of the young adult group asked? What if we were as intentional about that twelve-day season as we have been about Advent? Might that help others hold onto the liturgical pace of life rather than giving in so quickly to the more secular talk of New Year’s, resolutions and all of that?
What if we observed the Christmas season by giving of ourselves on each of the days of Christmas? It might work like this: On the first day of Christmas, we do one thing for one other person, on the second day we do something for two people and so on. Over the twelve days of Christmas, that’s 66 acts of giving kindness per person. Adds up pretty quickly, doesn’t it, especially of many of us are engaged?
What are we talking about here? What kind of giving? It might be something large, if we want to do that, or it can be something as simple as a kind word to a stranger, a small gesture to a valued friend, a simple gift or some other recognition to mark the season. Or, we could get together and do something for several people at once. What if we said the words “Merry Christmas” to the recipients of our efforts, to remind her or him that we are still in the season of giving praise for the arrival of our Lord?
Also, what if we shared our experiences, reactions and reflections with each other as we went (we’d share via the Caldwell Young Adults group on Facebook since there is so much else going on in the holidays)? We could exchange ideas about what kinds of things we are doing. What might we learn from each other? How might we inspire each other to carry the light into the world in new and creative ways?
So, let’s do it, we said. We could call it the “12-Day Effect.”
So, as of December 25, Christmas morning, through Jan. 5, the “12-Day Effect” is in effect. You don’t have to be chronologically a young adult to participate. The more the merrier, the brighter the Light that we can give to others. Let our acts multiply!
Merry Christmas to all with most profound gratitude from the Cleghorns to each one who considers Caldwell church home!