Thanksg iving is over. The refrigerator is finally starting to empty out. You can now go to the store and buy things that need to go in the ‘fridge. And if anything is left it needs to be moved to the freezer or (most likely) thrown out.
With Thanksgiving in the books, we shift gears and begin looking at Christmas preparations. I sometimes think that Thanksgiving is preparation for the Christmas Season. Think about it a minute. We have decorations to put up, inside and outside. We begin planning menus for the Christmas lunch, breakfast, or dinner. Then we have to figure out what guests will be staying with us and for how long. Once that is figured out, we decide where (which room) they will be staying.
But, all this and many other things really don’t start happening until November is over, and December begins. We actually take a day or two (or maybe more) to breathe…recuperate… rest. Maybe we leave town, go visit family, or take a short break away from all the hustle and bustle.
This time is what I call the time in between. That time between the ending of Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Christmas season. That time when we catch our breath after one holiday and before the next officially begins.
However, that time in between is usually short lived. Honestly, most of us can’t afford to take that time away. This is not just financially driven, but there is just too much to do. BLACK FRIDAY is right on the tail of Thanksgiving Day. Some places have the BLACK FRIDAY sales starting the day of (or evening of) Thanksgiving. It’s as if we don’t have anything to do after we eat, so “let’s go shopping.”
And not just shopping, but we begin mentally preparing for Christmas, sometimes while the turkey is still in the oven. We are thinking of where the decorations for Christmas are stored. Where will we put the Christmas tree this year? Do we want a real tree this year or an artificial one? Am I hosting a meal for Christmas this year? Are we celebrating Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or both? I need to start that Christmas shopping list. The list keeps going and so does our mind.
And as our mind go, so does Thanksgiving. It is a memory of the past. And any time of rest and relaxation is gone with it. The time in between seems like it has become the Twilight Zone.
It made me think about how we live life today with the expectation, prophecy and fact of Jesus and his second coming. We are living in that time in between. This is the time since Jesus ascended to Heaven, and He told us to be waiting for His return.
Like the time between Christmas and Thanksgiving, we fill our minds and time with many other things. We have had so many Christmases that it’s almost common-place. The novelty is gone. We emphasize the holiday, not the meaning or reason for the holiday.
Jesus’ second coming has been an almost 2,000 year delay. We read about it. We study it. We hear about it. We wait for it. But that time in between, we have treated the same way as the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our mind drifts, we begin to think and plan other things. We forget that the someday could be today.
We get busy with life. And the busyness is not wrong, but we need to be thinking about “What if today is the day?” Instead, we go on with our lives, and don’t even give much, if any thought, to the notion of Jesus’ return. We live with the expectancy of Jesus’ return…but not today, this week, month, or year. It will be later.
There is an old saying I learned several years ago that says, “Pray that Jesus’ return is tomorrow, but live like it is today.” I wonder if we do?
My whole point is that as we wave good-bye to Thanksgiving and welcome Christmas, take a few days to transition. Savor the things that we are thankful for to help prepare for the Christmas season that seems to begin earlier each year. Take that time in between and…breathe! Much as we should wait in anticipation of our Savior’s return, let us look to the sky and take a moment…a moment to breathe, ponder, and even prepare.
As Jesus’ birth came with much waiting, so does His return. There was a time in between in the Old Testament and a time in between in the New Testament, and in our lives as well.
Take a few moments this year to transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas and not just rush from one holiday to the other.
Savoring the time in between, Bro. Tim
