If you watch an old black and white movie about Christmas, you will see the family putting up and decorating a tree on Christmas Eve. Why did they wait until then to put up a tree? Many people take their tree down the day after Christmas. That is a lot of work for one day!

We live in a commercialized and secularized Christmas where the commercials start before Thanksgiving and big shopping starts the day after on Black Friday and then on Cyber Monday… We put up our Christmas trees early and take them down early. We are following what most of us have only known. I went through a Christmas crisis when my older daughters were young. Why is Christmas about us instead of Jesus? Why are we giving gifts to each other? It’s not our birthdays! I thought maybe we could give our gifts to each other at Thanksgiving or New Year and focus on worshipping Jesus at Christmas. That was loudly and succinctly rejected by the rest of my family. It wasn’t until I learned about the church calendar and the history of Christmas that I understood what we could be doing as a family.

The Christmas season starts with Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas until sunset on Christmas Eve. This time has been called mini-Lent, because it is a time of fasting, praying, and preparing for the coming of Jesus. It is a time to reflect on our suffering and sin and the suffering and sin around us. It is more of a somber period when we think about our need for a savior. I forego cookies, candy, and sweet treats during this time which is very difficult, but when I see them and want them, I think about why I am not partaking. My focus turns to my need for a savior and looking forward to sunset on December 24 when I can begin my celebration of Jesus’ birth.

Christmas is not just a 24-hour period but a 12-day celebration when we are to have parties, feasts, give gifts, and joyfully celebrate Jesus’ incarnation. We give gifts to those around us as a sign our joy of having a savior who was born to a virgin over 2,000 years ago. For the past several years, we have given our youngest daughter a gift every day for 12 days. Our society spends Advent partying and the 12 days of Christmas recovering. As Christians, we can be feasting and partying for the 12 days of Christmas.

Recovering the historical pattern of Christmas which is a part of the church calendar through the ages has helped me bring a new and deeper meaning to the celebration of our Savior’s birth. Merry Christmas! All 12 days!