On the Tenth Day of Christmas: Keep Celebrating (even if you don't want to)

Watch:  Little Girl Refuses to Dance at Christmas Dance Recital (and Steals the Show) 

Oh, my, this video is fabulous! 

Sometimes, when it comes to celebrating the full 12 days of Christmas, I feel like the little girl next to the one with her arms folded. I feel like I'm still tapping along with joy when everyone else is starting diets and putting away their Christmas trees. Other times (as recently as this afternoon!) I feel exactly like the pouting instead. Giving ourselves to the act of celebration as a spiritual discipline sometimes feels exactly like that - a discipline. I'd feel better about myself today if I'd insisted on productivity instead of a mid-afternoon nap on the couch. I could get a jump start on the year ahead, try to beat it into submission before it gets the best of me. Of course, the time will come to tidy up the ornaments and dried tree needles. It will definitely be time soon, and very soon, to stop eating chocolate and cheese with almost every meal. 

But that day is not yet today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. Or even the one after that. Yes, we end the twelve days of Christmas with yet another day of celebration, the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6.

If you've joined me for previous Christmas Daybook posts, you've heard me quote my wise mom with what's become our family motto for most celebrations: "While we feast, we savor." 

So, savor the excess, friends. Unless Jesus comes in the clouds in the next couple of days, we'll move into Ordinary Time again. Soon after that, the days for Lenten fasting will come. Enjoy the present moment. And if you can't enjoy it, at least try not to get in the way of the people around you who are keeping Christmas well.

Read:  Psalm 68; 1 Kings 19:9-18; Ephesians 4:17-32; John 6:15-27 

Pray:  Pray from Every Moment Holy:

“I praise you, O God, for these inexplicable gifts of mirth and merriment and laughter, delighting in such foretaste of the wellsprings of eternal joy that ever bubble and flow within your glad Trinity. Amen.”
— "Upon Experiencing Cheering Laughter" by Douglas Kaine McKelvey

Do:  Dance!

Today’s a good day to bust a move. 

I dare you to dance today -- somewhere, anywhere, even if only for a few minutes. You could at least do as well as this guy.

Maybe you’d also enjoy reading this piece I wrote a few years back: The Preacher’s Family Is A Dancing Family.