Counting (or Spiraling) Down After Christmas
Decrescendo
After a climax or pinnacle of triumph, there is the fall. After exhilaration, there is depression. So, after Christmas, there is decrescendo. It happens to most people and it happens almost every year. In music, the volume and expression increases in crescendo. Yet, the crescendo cannot last forever. It must stop, and change – and fall. That’s when decrescendo occurs. Just like the holidays, just like after Christmas.
Preparing for decrescendo – after Christmas
So many times, in the excitement of the holidays and being together with family, we forget what happens next. We can’t live on a mountain peak with family gathered for days of games, fun, gifts, food, and sugar. When the holidays are over and families return to their homes and to their jobs, we experience the after Christmas. We need to recognize this. We need to help our kids prepare for this. When the season is over, it is time to move on.
Granted, the memories remain – the quirks and fun times are banked for future memory reels. They stay with us – and we can bask in them for weeks and months. We can pull them up at any time and remember. When the memories are good, they can warm us through the days ahead.
Reckoning with tumult in the season
Not all families have good times together. Some years are better than others. Sometimes we are not surprised at what happens in family gatherings. In other instances, we had no idea things were going to be that rocky. So, in addition to living in the anticlimax of the season, we deal with the aftereffects of the earthquake that happened in the middle of the season. After Christmas, what is done is done. Things said that ought not have been said brought pain. So, we choose how to live in the aftermath of hurt and pain. Bitterness and anger kill the soul – and affect the body. We must deal with our personal wrong, and not someone else’s. We answer to God for our sin, not someone else’s sin. Forgiveness brings healing in our own souls, even if it is not requested or granted by others.
Living in Decrescendo – after Christmas
This mama likes nothing better than having her kids and grandkids come home. There is noise, chaos, and a lot of fun and laughter. They don’t come often enough or stay long enough, but living together now under one roof would be chaotic – and unhealthy. So, the toys are put away and the beds remade. Towels are freshly laundered and back in the closet and we enjoy the quiet, even though we miss the noise!
Life must get back to normal – for us as parents and for our offspring. True living happens in the other 51 weeks of the year, not in those few days we are all together.
Reflection on how we did when we were together helps prepare us for future Christmas times. Recognizing when things could have gone more smoothly helps us sort out how we can improve. Realizing that after Christmas is more about living now than wallowing in despair because things are not what they used to be helps us look ahead instead of behind.
After Christmas, we must “reach forth to those things which are before” and we press on, reaching toward the goal of the prize in Christ Jesus. Learning how to live the other 51 weeks of the year helps prepare us for the coming season and living well in the season after.
Photo credits: pixabay.com
