It is only a matter of time!

When I was a kid waiting for Christmas was difficult.  I don’t know if it is our culture or my personality, something else or a combination of factors, but waiting was and is not a strong suit for me.  The waiting really began Monday after Thanksgiving weekend when I had to go back to school.  That morning on the way to school marked the beginning of the count down.  Let me confess, I like to learn I just hated school.  While waiting for Christmas the days in school really were a bore, but sooner or later Christmas would come and set me free from school.  I hated doing long division.  If a train left Chicago at 11:00 and another train left L.A. at 7:00 all that mattered was that they got to where they were going by Christmas.  I didn’t want spelling bees; they never asked me to spell “HAM”.  I didn’t want a history lesson about two guys walking from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.   I wanted Christmas.  The clocks at school during Christmas moved exceptionally slow. I was A.D.D. before A.D.D. was discovered.  I always felt we should have had a class dedicated to day dreaming-I was good at that.  I practiced a lot especially while waiting for Christmas.   I was never a good student and during December I was especially distracted and distract-able by something better that was just ahead.

Everyone came home at Christmas. Being the youngest in my family I was excited to see my brothers come home from college, one uncle home from the Navy, and another to park his 18 wheeler for a week.  While never destitute we were not a wealthy family and so meals were rarely sumptuous.  But Christmas was a season of feasting.  There seemed to be a near endless supply of fruit, candies, and big meals during the days around Christmas.  I remember my uncle bringing candy by the bags at Christmas, candy that came from the PX which some how made it special.

It was also when we would present the Christmas program at church.   Some time just after Halloween we would begin the preparation.  Some years it was a musical, others it was a drama, occasionally it was a live manger scene in front of the church.  Having a donkey or goat at church made the Christmas story real.  Compared with modern Christmas productions ours were very primitive and humble affairs, but we loved the moment and the fellowship with cake and hot chocolate afterwards. 

I can remember specific decorations I made almost 50 years ago out of computer punch cards, glitter, glue, and silver or gold paint.   I can remember caroling and taking cookies to the old folks home. I enjoyed getting presents, but I really liked making a list to whom I would give what.  I remember trying to decide what kind of stationary to buy my uncle (it had to be serious incase he needed to write the Pentagon).   Other than never having a white Christmas, I loved the whole Christmas holiday. 

All of which made the waiting harder and the preparation more fun.  These apparent opposites were true because it was just a matter of time till Christmas would be here.  The month from thanksgiving to Christmas always passed; it never failed.  That is one of the lessons of Advent.  By preparing to celebrate the first coming of Christ we are training for the second coming.  It is just a matter of time. 

Between now and the second coming things can be really bad.  We will face the slow decay of years and age.  We will go to funerals for loved ones. We will get sick and from one of those sicknesses we will one day be the guest of honor at a funeral.  The mind and the body will grow feeble.  We will watch a world around us crumble and fail.  We will even see nature groaning and complaining under the stress and distress of decay.  The picture is as gloomy as the outlook of an emo kid without a prom date.  But it is okay this is just school between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The second coming is like Christmas only more.  It is Super, Grand, Awesome Christmas; it is feasting of which Christmas dinner is a vague picture.  It is the reunion that is all joy and never followed by separation.  It is enjoying gifts prepared for us at the greatest cost and giving the gifts of love and worship.  The decoration and celebration of this annual special day is newspaper chains compared to the blazing grandeur of the coming. 

So, as you prepare for Christmas this year, do so with gusto and flair and wow.  But remember the true work of preparing for Christmas is to train and prepare for The Coming.  Super Christmas is just around the corner; I can hardly wait.