Day 1: A Different Holiday Season
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:30-38
I don’t have enough time. I don’t. It’s October 1st and I am already overwhelmed with the impending holiday season. Perhaps it’s the fact that this year has been nothing short of a train wreck. Or maybe it’s that I haven’t even asked my children what they want to dress up as for Halloween. I’m avoiding the conversation because I know this year Halloween will look different. I have committed to creating a candy scavenger hunt rather than attempt the controversial trick-or-treating. And even though I know that my children are hardly old enough to know the difference or feel the loss, I feel the loss--I feel the deflation in excitement that I am holding for the next several months.
I’m having a hard time adjusting. Truthfully I continue to feel caught off guard every time a new season begins and we are still navigating the current circumstances. Spring turned to summer and now summer turns to fall and I find myself once again wondering what is waiting up ahead. Will our extended families gather for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Will Santa still come this year, adding a mask to his iconic garb? I know many things will change this holiday season but I also wonder if the things that are changing are the things I should be worried about?
Fall is a season of cozy expectation. For most of the country the weather turns cool, the smells shift to pumpkin and pine. We look towards holidays focused on thankfulness and celebration. Can those ideas still be present even if the details will be different? The pragmatist in me wants a complete plan of action. I want to know exactly how to make this the best pandemic holiday season. I want to solve the issue of gathering with loved ones. I want to have all the perfect presents wrapped under the tree. I want, I want, I want. The list goes on. I want control of the future. And yet, if life has taught me anything, it has taught me that control is an illusion. I cannot control the future. So what does that mean as I sit here at the cusp of what promises to be an unpredictable fall?
I look to Mary as an angel of the Lord descends upon her and tells her life altering news. She is not only pregnant without cause, but the baby she is to carry will change the world. Talk about a lack of control of her future. And Mary says OK. She looks directly at the message and accepts the call. She doesn’t ask for guarantees. She doesn’t demand a step by step action plan. She simply accepts this new direction God has set before her.
This season, may I be more like Mary. May I attempt to find opportunities rather than sulk over change. Perhaps this will come in the form of new family traditions or letting go of some of the burdens I have been left with from holidays past. It might mean allowing the limitations of this time to reveal where I can slow down and enjoy, rather than worry about getting it all done. There is an opportunity being given to recognize the holidays of 2020 will not look like the holidays of the past or even likely, the holidays of next year or the year after. What will you do with this opportunity?
Questions:
How are you feeling about this fall/holiday season?
What is most important to you to preserve this season?
What is one thing you can allow to change?
Can you see any opportunities that slowing down has offered you over the past 6 months?
