Where do we go from here? Plotting a trail...from the Creche

"My, Oh My...How things have changed!" A quote, exclamation that could be associated with any set of circumstances, time of year, history...a remarkable contrast...a type of recognition, even an Epiphany, which is another day of theological significance for those who have continued to embrace and be a witness to the true meaning of Christmas...one which follows Christmas Day, which roughly correlates with the Magi ("Wise Men") arriving on the Scene, the Creche, the Nativity, to bear witness (and come bearing gifts, of course)...twelve days after Christmas, January 6th, to be exact (some find themselves marking this day on days apart due to the use of different liturgical calendars, but the symbolism is essentially consistent)...twelve days that most of us associate with the ever popular Christmas song about a partridge, a pear tree, and many other gifts that would entertain as well as overfill an average home...the kind of parallel experience I offered you a few days ago here involving St. Nicholas and Jolly Ole St. Nick. Those who continue to mark the full significance of the 'reason for the season' reflect on how the First Christmas did indeed "change everything, nothing will ever be the same...". Whereas if you listen, look about you on a purely practical, sensory level, you'll also witness things about us changing, only remnants and gradually disappearing traces of Christmas 2021, as people haphazardly place shredded wrapping paper and used trees by the curb, and slowly but surely start de-Christmasing in and out of their homes, even dismantling the Creche, and the radio stations gradually return to "regular programming", their non-Christmas sing, except perhaps an intermittent carol and then a slight uptick on December 31st for "Old times' sake". Then it's on to next year. 

So, what about You, plotting your next moves: Where do you go from here, literally as well as 'metaphysically'...how does the tail wind, the tales, the trails of the Creche of this particular Christmas follow, help sustain you, or fade into oblivion, camouflaged, even eclipsed by new/current events, at least until July, which has become a sort of mid-way stopover ("Christmas in July"), an emerging cottage industry and a time of year that a few stubborn (aka lazy?) among us finally decided it was warm enough to take down the lights, while others say "why bother, it will be Christmas soon enough..." In any case, have you already gone back to "business as usual..." or, in the case of the 100,000 combatants in 2014 I wrote here about, bitterly opposing forces of WWI who paused, came out of their trenches, and celebrated Christmas together...and then (literally) "went back to their trenches". The trailing tale included an account of how this truce lasted for some, depending on where on the Western Front they found themselves, until the first few days of 2015. And then there were the ultimate "Bah Humbugs" of the day, many of the generals and other leaders, who saw such expressions of "Peace on earth, good will towards men" as a threat, that many would be less inclined to shoot across the clearing after such fellowship. As for You and Me, we get to "Choose Your Own Adventure", like in the book series that prompts the reader at various junctures of the journey, action, plot, to pause and choose an option (e.g., "if you choose option A go to page..."), whereas here, in this post-Christmas story of 2021, your options are unlimited, only limited by your imagination. For instance, if you were either a soldier in question or, on the other hand, one of those in command, what would you have chosen as the next move, how would you have plotted this story? As I shared with you here recently, General, then President Eisenhower, having sent hundreds of thousands into harm's way for a virtuous cause, having witnessed more losses than he could have ever imagined, started the "People to People" program, an attempt to maintain the kind of fellowship, calm, and good will experienced by those soldiers on the Western Front. How can you, whether you are an orthodox Christmas goer or more of the Santa type, how can you plot out a course, an adventure for the coming year that will maximize you being a beacon of hope, a source of joy, of good will among those you encounter along the way? Something worth considering while the glow of this Christmas is still upon you...