As I type this, it is January First, 2024. Another New Year's Day. Last night, at midnight, we crossed a mystical barrier into the new year. And tonight, at midnight, we will cross another mystical barrier, and another Holiday Season will come to an end. Which means that the "magic" that seems to drift unseen, but not un-noticed, and not without effect during those special days, will return to wherever it lives the rest of the year. As I type this, in just a few more minutes, we must resume our normal, non-magical lives.
I suppose this is a good thing. In this fallen world, it seems that our bodies no longer have the ability to withstand being exposed to magic each day of the year. Who knows what would happen to us if The Magic of Christmas was present all of the time? And so, thankfully, I suppose, for most of each year, our world is "normal". It is "small" and "bland"; and we go through each day thinking that what we can see and touch and hear and taste and smell is all that there is, but always wishing that there was more.
And yet, each year, for just a few days at Holiday Season, it is as though we have been gifted with the ability to be surrounded by the Christmas Magic without ill effect. The Magic doesn't last long. But when it is here, our world suddenly no longer seems "normal", "small", "bland". Our senses are keener, and we perceive beyond what our eyes can see. Everything tastes better, smells better, feels better, sounds better, does it not? And it is a marvelous thing - like we are seeing and hearing and tasting and touching for the first time! And what is more, there is even the possibility that we just might come out of the Holiday Season changed for the better after being exposed to the Magic. Amazing indeed!
So, what of you? By the time you read this, the Christmas Magic has come and gone. Did you sense it over the last few days? Have you been changed for the better by your exposure to that which is wonderful? Or is your world now back to just "normal"?
And what of me? Technically, The Magic is still swirling around as I finish typing this note. There are still a few more minutes of the wonderful to absorb, to savor, to cherish. What will I be when, and if, I wake up in the morning - a bright, fresh and new me? Or the same old me?
For some reason, I think who we will be when we wake up after The Magic is gone will depend upon who and what we decide to be. Will we choose to be simply "normal"? Or will we choose to let ourselves be something different, something changed, something better? May we choose wisely, for it will be a long time before The Magic returns. And the world has need of more people who are not simply "normal", but who have been changed by the Magic of Christmas.
Ambrose Ramsey | Pastor and Shepherd
