"Happy" Holidays and "Merry" Christmas

This is an emotional time of year. "Joy(s) to the World" and "Holly Jollies" are frequently met with "sorrows in the 'hood" and "holy molies" in the silence of night. Especially poignant to me are friends with seasonal memories leaving them fallow and grey. Like clockwork, like season's change...they are virtually inescapable. For many, receiving the greeting of "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" is a tough swallow, especially in light of what they've experienced near the holidays in years past.

The other day, friends lost a parent to death after a long illness. Knowing this passing was inevitable, I was praying they'd be spared this particular sadness until a while after the New Year, but unfortunately that was not to be the case. Now, their future holiday seasons will always be marked by this passing and I know it will take some work to get through it.

The day after the funeral, it was all the more striking to me when two 20-somethings walked by my table at Starbucks. The second of the two rather loudly proclaimed, "I couldn't be happier than I am right now. In fact, this has got to be the happiest day of my life." While I was immediately gladdened by the joy in his world, I was as simultaneously struck by how fleeting days like these can be. "What about tomorrow?" I thought to myself. "If this is the happiest day of your life buddy, apparently tomorrow is going to have to be pretty darn exceptional to top this one. And what about when you're my age? That day is going to have to be crazy amazing!" Or perhaps...that day really was going to be the happiest day of his life. Literally. Who knows?

Therein lies the rub, right? Do we expect every new day to be better than the one before it? When people say, "I love this time of year!" does that imply they always anticipate every holiday season is going to be filled with perfect joy? How do we navigate when we face the sobriety of harsh reality?

Jesus once said, "...don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I've always used those words to face my own concerns, fears and anxieties. And...being truly honest, those words have helped me walk through some significantly hard days. But after those two guys walked out of Starbucks...I thought about an another possible angle, and I wondered if Jesus would agree. "...be happy for the joy of today, celebrate it (for sure) but then let it rest at day's end. There are no guarantees tomorrow will be even better."

Especially in the holiday season, we spend a lot of energy reaching back to resurrect  joyful days of old. Even some of our carols proclaim it, "Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore." We seem to revere joyful memories to such an extent, I wonder if we even begin to idolize them. We set those times up so highly in our esteem that it makes everything else pale in comparison. Parents try to recreate memories of their childhood and are often frustrated when their kids "don't get it" and don't embrace the old family tradition as expected. Rather than simply being happy with new experiences and making new memories for today, we keep reaching backwards...trying to make today even better than yesterday. Consequently...some folks just give up completely and can't wait for the season to pass.

This particular holiday season (it's kind of a tough one for me) I'm simply choosing to be happy for the joy of today, celebrate it (for sure), but then let it rest at day's end. There are no guarantees tomorrow will be any better...but following Jesus, I have learned...yesterday has passed and we "don't have to worry about tomorrow."

So..."Happy" Holidays and "Merry" Christmas, everyone.