Hooray, It's (Yawn) Christmas!
Christmas is almost here, thank God. It isn't that I'm anxious to open presents or to feast. I do look forward to spending some extra time with family, but that's not it either. The reason I'm so grateful that Christmas is almost here is because I am exhausted!
I suppose it is an occupational hazard. It isn't just that there is so much more for a minister to do (which there is); it is also that the stakes are higher, with more people in the pews. Add the out-of-town guests and the two-timers (Christmas and Easter) to the regulars and it starts looking pretty good from the pulpit. But then it gets to you that so many people are expecting you to say something worth the time and effort it takes to listen. Sure, the choir, soloists and instrumentalists bear some of the burden, but believe me it is still stressful.
After twenty years, I no longer worry about coming up with something new to say. People don't want you to preach from Genesis or Revelation, and somehow tie it in to Christmas. They just want the straight stuff, right from Matthew, Luke and John. People want to hear about Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph, no room at the inn, shepherds in the field, wise men with gifts, etc. I just try to find a new way to tell the old, old story. Through the years, I've done okay, but every year I feel the pressure build.
So I guess my psychic weariness is understandable and acceptable. I mask it as well as I can, smiling my way through the Christmas eve service and as I greet the parishioners afterward. But, as my family knows well, when I go home, I am played out. That's why I always schedule a week's vacation right after Christmas. It gives me a chance to recharge and take the right attitude into the new year.
For the last few years, as we have travelled on Christmas day to see family, my wife has thoughtfully prepared an envelope with a card and small tip for the toll taker on the turnpike. She figures the guy deserves a little extra something for working on Christmas day so that the rest of us can use the road to reach our families. As she hands the toll taker the envelope, my wife smiles and says, "Thank you." She's nice.
If I'm driving, the toll taker will be lucky to get even a faint smile from me. I'll still be exhausted.
I suppose it is an occupational hazard. It isn't just that there is so much more for a minister to do (which there is); it is also that the stakes are higher, with more people in the pews. Add the out-of-town guests and the two-timers (Christmas and Easter) to the regulars and it starts looking pretty good from the pulpit. But then it gets to you that so many people are expecting you to say something worth the time and effort it takes to listen. Sure, the choir, soloists and instrumentalists bear some of the burden, but believe me it is still stressful.
After twenty years, I no longer worry about coming up with something new to say. People don't want you to preach from Genesis or Revelation, and somehow tie it in to Christmas. They just want the straight stuff, right from Matthew, Luke and John. People want to hear about Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph, no room at the inn, shepherds in the field, wise men with gifts, etc. I just try to find a new way to tell the old, old story. Through the years, I've done okay, but every year I feel the pressure build.
So I guess my psychic weariness is understandable and acceptable. I mask it as well as I can, smiling my way through the Christmas eve service and as I greet the parishioners afterward. But, as my family knows well, when I go home, I am played out. That's why I always schedule a week's vacation right after Christmas. It gives me a chance to recharge and take the right attitude into the new year.
For the last few years, as we have travelled on Christmas day to see family, my wife has thoughtfully prepared an envelope with a card and small tip for the toll taker on the turnpike. She figures the guy deserves a little extra something for working on Christmas day so that the rest of us can use the road to reach our families. As she hands the toll taker the envelope, my wife smiles and says, "Thank you." She's nice.
If I'm driving, the toll taker will be lucky to get even a faint smile from me. I'll still be exhausted.
posted by Jimbo | 11:25 AM
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