Ah, the Holidays. (or OH, the Holidays!)

This week, I had lunch with a colleague of mine. It was a great time of fellowship, as I haven't seen her much in the past year, even though our Parishes are only less than an hour apart.
Last year at Christmas, one of her churches invited people to come for lunch, and because of Christmas being on a Sunday (a "work day" for me), and some other pastoral obligations I had that day, I drove to her church for lunch and good fellowship.

So lunch this past week made me remember something my brother wrote in his blog last year about how people should observe Christmas, but he made a note about how I was working ("occupational hazard"). And then I started to consider what I had through the end of the month...

1. Two Worship Services on Dec 23rd
2. Two Christmas Eve Services
3. A Wedding on Dec 29, and all of the rehearsal and final planning that goes with it.
4. Two Worship Services on Dec 30th

Then, I was nice enough to consider doing a Christmas Day Devotional Worship Service at each of my churches, because apparently something happened in the past, and it would be nice, and so on and so forth... but ok, sounds good.
Then I added the numbers.
And then I pulled out the aspirin.

But in all honesty, as work as it is going to take, and as much as I'll be expecting certain people to be at particular Services (because they encouraged me, so if they wanted it, they should be there as well, right?), it doesn't hold a candle to WHY I'm doing the Worship Services...
Because it's Christmas.

No matter what you say, or how you say it, people have many reasons for being busy at Christmas. But if you're going to use Christmas as an excuse, you need to know what Christmas is about, and the best place for that is church.

In between all of the times that I'll be busy, I'll find some time for personal escape. The people will just have to understand it. Just as I understand that some people will give me several reason why they can't make it to any of those eight different Worship Services. Sure, some people are away with family in other places, but as I recall past years of people telling me how "busy" they were and couldn't make it to church, but they would drive past me at the church, I think of why they were so busy... was it to celebrate Christmas, or to avoid the reason for Christmas?

So stop for a bit, and give up on the excuses...

• "Holiday" means "Holy Day"
• "Xmas" means "a celebration of Christ" (it's Greek)
• "Season's Greetings" is a welcoming of the Season (hence, the "Christmas Season")

Find a local place of worship, find a friend or neighbor to go with if that makes you more comfortable, and go.
Who knows - maybe you'll learn something.
In the meanwhile, read Luke 2:1-20. Or watch this...