Pondering Christmas

Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Christmas is a time of year when we all seem to go into overdrive: the Christmas shopping, the decorating, the holiday parties and gatherings, the baking, and on and on. There is always more that we can be doing to the point where, when the Christmas season is over, we feel like we need a long vacation. 

If you feel stressed around the holidays, you are not alone. About 64% of Americans report increased stress around the holidays with inflation, shopping for gifts, and family dynamics being the largest causes of stress. How do we change the holidays for ourselves and our families so that the stress is not so palpable? 

There is a verse at the very end of the Christmas story in Luke’s Gospel that I think may be the key to unlocking a less stressful holiday season. 

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

During Christmas time, there are so many treasures that we can store up – time with family, parties, reconnecting with friends, decorating, advent celebrations, and the list goes on – but are we always giving ourselves the time to ponder and reflect over the blessings that we have in our life?

Does the busy-ness of celebrating cloud our ability to rediscover the miracle of Jesus’ birth? To re-encounter the wonder of the Christmas story is to sit with it and ponder it. Are our celebrations getting in the way of the meaning of Christmas and our ability to count Jesus as one of our treasures?

Maybe this year, rather than feeding our stress by overbooking ourselves with holiday “cheer,” we should make time for quieter celebrations that focus on the reason for the season – that Jesus, the son of God, came to earth to save the world and is the greatest gift of all.