Weekly Reflection - 1/18/2024

St. Mary's Reflection: Nicole Elliott, Vestry Member

Over the last few weeks, as many of us have settled back into our pre-holiday season routines, I have been struck by the number of times I have heard the expression, “We put away Christmas” or “Christmas is put away.” This often is followed by some reference to life returning to regular programming (or “the grind,” as I also have heard quite a few times over the past few weeks). I, too, have found myself using these expressions, or something similar, when reuniting and catching up with friends and acquaintances after school breaks and time off from the usual weekly routine. But the idea of “putting away Christmas” has given me some pause and led me to think about what this means to me (outside of packing up decorations and hauling the Christmas tree to the curb on collection day), and how I might avoid it.

As a child, Christmas in our household was abundant with love, family, and tradition; I can still feel the warmth and excitement when thinking back on holiday memories, and I am so grateful for this. Many of our family traditions originated with my maternal grandmother and her predecessors, who were Italian and Roman Catholic (there was no shortage of delicious Italian food and sweets in the house at Christmastime). My late father’s birthday was Christmas Eve, which brought another special celebration to the Christmas season for our family (we always enjoyed chocolate birthday cake on Christmas Eve following my father’s birthday dinner). Raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, we attended church Christmas morning and, on occasion when I was older, we opted for midnight mass.

Now as an adult and an Episcopalian, I continue to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and the wonder and miracle of Christ’s birth – something I intend to continue reflecting on throughout the year, and not only while the Christmas tree is lit. With the birth of Jesus, God chose to bring himself to all of us in the flesh, and experience the human condition, which He did with grace and love. John writes, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:1-5). My intention is to practice discerning the light of Christ in my everyday life – particularly in the ordinary, mundane times (or “the grind”), when personally, I may be less attuned to the presence of Christ. This year, I want to avoid putting Christmas away, and, instead, strive to sustain the essence of Christmas in the everyday, and invite the light of Christ into the routine aspects of my life with intentionality.

Nicole Elliott,

Vestry Member