Well, okay, you folks have spoken. Charles was the first to tell me to relax: I have until Epiphany (January 6) to take my Christmas tree down. Many others chimed in with similar messages. Elizabeth went as far as to say what a commercial, non-Christian view of the world it was to take Christmas down before the 6th of January.
So I did a little research to find out that Epiphany was first practiced by the Christian church in the fourth century, and that western Christians generally use it to celebrate the coming of the magi, and eastern Christians add the baptism of Jesus by John. The idea is prevalent that Epiphany corresponds with the end of the Christmas celebration (the twelve days of Christmas – counting from December 25 – are over on January 5).
Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning manifestation, and it seems that the general idea here is that Christmas celebrates the birth (nativity) of Jesus and Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of who he was as both Son of God and son of man. I like that. Put it that way and Epiphany is a lot closer to what I usually think of as the real meaning of Christmas – the incarnation of Christ.
Bottom line here is that I don’t have to take my tree down until Thursday.
I always feel like I’m missing out when I learn of other generations and cultures that place great importance on certain feasts and festivals throughout the year. The Jewish calendar is rich with such special days. Our Jewish neighbors, whom I would call semi-orthodox, seem to be always celebrating something. I feel almost pagan in comparison.
And from my understanding of the Old Testament, it’s clear that God ordained many feasts and festivals throughout the year to be a time of remembering and making merry. It’s still a stretch for me to realize that God ordained partying. That’s a far cry from the way most of us stuck-in-the-mud western Christians live life, especially what we call “spiritual life.” In our tradition, partying and spiritual would be on opposite ends of a spectrum.
Maybe it would be good to spend a little time thinking through what we celebrate and why. If God ordained something fun (as opposed to somber) to remember him by, perhaps we could do at least the same.
John Fischer The Catch 
I’m with you, John … having gone through my little spell of heavy sighing as we took down the Christmas tree (yes, before Thursday) because my wife is leaving town in a few days and she KNOWS I wouldn’t touch it while she was away … and I’ve come across more than a few pea-pods lately who say that, because “celebrating Jesus’ birth” isn’t in Scripture, we should avoid celebrating Christmas like it was plutonium. But one of the keys to our walk with God is the joy of the Lord and celebrating what He’s done for us. “Hallelujah!” is a cheer, not a dirge.
The remembrance and marking of Epiphany can be an incredible ‘holiday’ to help out kids (and some of us!) remember what Christmas is all about! It can be tough to find the time to reflect and recall the first Christmas and it’s meaning to us when we are so swamped with last minute rushing around and worries whther we bought the ‘right’ gift for someone. I was raised Ukrainian Catholic and we celebrated Christmas January 7th. This actually worked well for us kids as we had our ‘Santa’ Christmas with all the gifts… and our ‘Jesus’ Christmas where we could focus on the birth of Christ without all the ‘distractions’. While I am now an Evangelical minister, and work as a Prison chaplain, I have found the English Orthodox Church a very good resource for religious feasts/fasts and special days to be reflected upon and remembered. this has added great depth to my ‘evangelical’ spirituality when, as John said, others are celebrating and we are not.
“Extending” Christmas can also get kids (and grownups, for that matter) understanding that Christmas is not “over” when we go to bed on Dec. 25.
I took my tree down on Sunday–now I have the urge to put it back up for a day or two. Still–I have my poinsettia and intend to leave my Dickens Village houses up for a while, so Christmas should last in our house even beyond Epiphany. Taken from another angle, my dictionary gives more definitions for epiphany (lower case) 1. the manifestation of a supernatural or divine reality 2. any moment of great or sudden revelation. In that case, we can experience the glory of Christmas throughout the year through time spent in the Word and the practice of its truth. Merry Christmas everyone.
For all that want to continue the celebration… In Puerto Rico we celebrate have the longest holiday season ever! (I have not lived there for more than 10 years now but I try to keep tradition…). Christmas is clebrated and children receive gifts but traditionally Christmas was more of a religious festivity and children would receive gifts January 6th to conmemmorate the day the Magi came bearing gifts (old tradition it would continue for three days one for each of the Magi!). After that you celebrate “octavas” which are 8 days of feast because of the Magi visitation and then “octavitas” which are another 8 days of adoration (read between the lines–today it’s more of an excuse to celebrate for another week!) as a prelude to Lent. Are you counting? By my count Christmas ends January 24th. Celebrate on! We are celebrating the best gift ever!
Just don’t pack Jesus up with the decorations, regardless of when you take them down.
That’s a great idea. I brought one decoration back out to remain until Epiphany. Christmas isn’t over yet. And one day, the celebration will be a neverending story.
btw, I’m sorry if I sounded like I was criticizing you yesterday. I wasn’t. I should have put a smiley up with it. It’s the downside of print versus person-to-person communication. I’m still a kid at heart. 🙂
May Epiphany shine brightly for you and everybody here.
You know, if you really want to go all-out, you could keep it up until Sunday. As a friend of mine pointed out, Christmas goes until the 9th in North America this year (the baptism of of the Lord, the Sunday after Epiphany). Of course, I liked his idea even further to hold out until Candlemass which is February 2nd and when Christmastide ends. Then you’d be really hardcore. 😉
You obviously did not grow up Catholic 😉
We’ve got holidays galore, mostly honoring (uh, not worshiping) our saintly forefathers.
http://www.churchyear.net/calendar2011.html
I have always love January 6th and the meaning of the word Epiphany. In one dictionary I found a phrase that I keep in my heart and I await for this even more so on this day. “A sudden awareness into the significance of something…!!!I add the words amazing and intimate…into the activity of our LORD as he sent those wise men…not just the 12th night of Christmas…the best night to really get to think and share our dreams and hopes and the epiphanies for the New Year from the one who loves us….
As far as Epiphany goes….I believe that encompasses any event in the Bible where Christ is revealed to the masses….when the Magi came to find him, at the Transfiguration, but all those events are celebrated on Jan. 6th. So…..who’s to say we HAVE to celebrate the putting up and taking down of our decorations on a certain day? I start playing Christmas music in early November, for golly sakes. And that’s OK too. I, for one, take my time and relax and do things in stages, and the tree and lights usually get taken down by the 2nd weekend in January. Do it….”as the spirit moves”.
You could always leave the tree up til Valentines Day and decorate it with hearts, photos of loved ones, and verses on love….It is because of His love for us that God sent His son.
We are down to one tree out of 6, maybe it was only 5 this year.