The Post-Christmas Letdown

I was watching my great nieces unwrap their gifts on Christmas morning, and noticed something I hadn't ever seen before.  In the midst of chaotic piles of paper and ribbon and boxes and bows (be sure you don't throw away any small gifts or gift cards!), there is usually a sense of letdown. Especially as a kid, perhaps even more so as an adolescent, and could it be...? Yes, even as an adult...when the packages are opened and all the thank you's have been said, there is a feeling of letdown.   There is a moment or perhaps even hours, when we look at the tree and the leftover food, and we wonder to ourselves, "Is that it? Is that all there is?"

 

Perhaps the intensity of our preparations and the extremes to which we sometimes go with our decorating and partying contribute to the letdown...I'm not sure.

 

I've never had children of my own, but this year for the first time, I wondered what it feels like to be a parent.  To work hard and sacrifice in order to give your children a happy Christmas, only to see the looks on their faces when all of the gifts have been unwrapped.  Have you ever been on the receiving end of a child asking, "Is that everything? Aren't there any more gifts?"  In other words, "Is that all there is?"  As a child growing up, I'm virtually certain my parents heard the question from me...probably on more than one occasion! 

 

I realized that our constant yearning for more is probably hurtful to our parents, in the sense that they realize they will never be able to fully satisfy the wants of their children; especially not with any gifts under the Christmas tree.

 

As I continued to contemplate our family's pile of Christmas paper and bows, I thought about God and His gift to us.  Jesus.

 

As Christians we give a good deal of lip service to the idea that "Jesus is the Reason for the Season," and for most of us, we mean it as deeply as our spiritual lives allow us to mean it.  Perhaps it would be a good idea, in these days after Christmas, to consider whether we have a true appreciation for the meaning of Jesus' coming.  Do we look at the manger scene and sing Silent Night, only to inwardly ask the question, "Is that all there is?" 

 

And how does our disappointment impact a Heavenly Father who has given us His Son?

 

In those times when we experience the limits of our world, the effects of sin and sickness and death...do we press in to know Jesus more, or do we inwardly question the sufficiency of God's gift?  As in, "I know God loves me and Jesus is the Greatest Gift...but...[fill in the blank with what you believe you need or want in order to finally feel satisfied and safe]."

 

Have we yet understood that Jesus is everything?