The Twelve Days of Christmas a Testimony-Based Devotional by Dayna Schoonmaker
The Twelve Days of Christmas A Testimony-based Devotional by Dayna Schoonmaker The Twelve Days of Christmas A Testimony-based Devotional by Dayna Schoonmaker For many of you, it may be old news that the twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas day rather than ending on the 25th. But, somehow, I grew up with the idea that the twelve days of Christmas was part of the hype leading up to the arrival of Santa and the birth of Jesus. It’s not surprising since the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ plays alongside ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas’ throughout December. Still, it was somewhat unsettling to find I’d been doing Christmas ‘wrong’ for years. The problem with this misunderstanding is that Advent is the season that leads up to Christmas, while the twelve days of Christmas are meant to be celebrated beginning on the 25th. By pushing the twelve days of Christmas into the Advent season, we deny ourselves room to experience the longing that precedes Christmas, almost like skipping the pregnancy and going straight to the birth. And I get it. By December of each year, and this year in particular, I am ready for the holly, jolly part of the season to go ahead and get here. Once December 25th rolls around, I am usually ready to clean things up and move on. However, by denying the fullness of Advent with its tiny wonders amid the waiting, we also diminish the full revelation of Christmas, when Light bursts forth into the darkness and transforms everything.
[Show full text]