When I was 5 years old living on Euclid Ave. here in Dallas, I got a wonderful gift for Christmas: a turtle. It came with a plastic circular habitat complete with a plastic miniature palm tree and a sunning deck. My father asked me what I wanted to name my turtle. The answer was obvious to a five year old exultant boy: “Christmas!!” Christmas was not exactly an action toy. When I got home from kindergarten, it didn’t seem as if he had moved all day. He didn’t bark or meow or wag his tail. But none of that mattered. He was my pet turtle. And he was Christmas!!
Christmas needs to be a day when nothing else matters. The irritatingly mundane details of life that chronically bring us down are pushed to the margins so that we can dwell on that purest of emotions: love. And not just any old love but agape love in Jesus Christ.
You’ve done whatever preparations you were going to do to make Christmas special. Now enjoy it! Shift gears and savor the moment. Tomorrow will bring all of the cares and concerns of everyday life but today focus on the ultimate.
If my pet turtle Christmas were still around and able to talk I have no doubt that he would tell you, “Don’t just do something….stand there!!”
In the name of the Christ Child, have a blessed Christmas Day.
