Devotees of the Naoi Meadow Way and the Lucan Chapel have an interesting way of doing the holiday season. Notably, we stretch it out as long as we can! Sixty-six wonderful days! It actually begins on November 1st, All Saints Day, and runs all the way until January 6th, the Epiphany.
To understand why it starts so early, you have to realize the importance we place on the season of Advent, which begins this year (2015) on Sunday Nov. 29th and runs until Christmas Day--four Sundays hence. Since Advent is to be taken seriously as a time for prayer and contemplation--and not for chaos, excess or hubbub--we try as best we can to have our gift shopping already done prior to Advent Sunday. It is a tough challenge, but it is fun, and worth the effort.
In a perfect (nonprocrastination) world we would be making or buying Christmas gifts for our loved ones throughout the year. But, since that rarely happens, tradition calls for us to take care of it between All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and Advent Sunday (usually the last Sunday of November). Notice that this means we are typically finished with it prior to Black Friday and Cyber Monday and are able to relax while others are going nuts. Being a part of that crazed rush of lunacy would violate the reverence we attach to the Christmas season as well as our reluctance to promote or engage in crass consumerism.
November is also when we do our fall housecleaning--and, again, this is for a reason.
Each family's home is their most sacred space year-round; which is why we are not supposed to tolerate cursing, rudeness, or violent forms of entertainment within those rooms and halls. But, this season is especially significant as we prepare to open our doors and our hearts to the new savior child. Everything needs to be as spic 'n span as a church for the impending arrival of Jesus into our homes and our lives (and, of course, for the arrival of friends and loved ones for the holidays as well). So, a thorough fall cleaning of one's house is symbolic of the way we shine up our lives and sweep out the manger of our inner hearts to provide a new abode for Jesus.
Thus, the month of November is kept busy with shopping, artsy-craftsy stuff, and tidying up.
Then comes Thanksgiving. This is the last feast and hoop-la before the serious matter of Advent begins (sort of akin to Halloween before All Saints Day...and Fat Tuesday ahead of Lent). And it is a time for getting together with family and expressing gratitude to Jesus and the Father for having blessed us with good things and the wherewithall to come up with the gifts we have just spent the month gathering, making and stashing away in a safe place awaiting Christmas Eve.
Thanksgiving Day is for--what else!--eating...and watching football...and engaging in family fellowship and the usual merriment. Friday, for those who are so inclined, can be a fun party night. But then, come Advent Sunday, it is time to get serious about the meaning of the season. In the olden days, it was a time of fasting and prayer. We don't go quite that far; but we do make every effort to keep it blessed with the highest level of Christian values and make it a time of peace, beauty, contemplation, and celebration of (all) life.
Those next four weeks of Advent are when we relax and enjoy decorating our homes, trimming the tree, and baking the cookies. But it also when we turn our attention to the beautiful things that Jesus and his message of peace represent, the real meaning of the Christmas holiday. Services are attended. Family worship night is observed in the home each week. Hymns and caroles are sung and enjoyed. All indees are kept away. And, each morning, the children eagerly open the little glittery windows of the advent calendar, one by one, ticking off the days in anticipation of Christmas eve, the arrival of Old Saint Nick, and the most sacred birthday celebration ever.
And when Christmas finally gets here, it keeps right on going...for 12 more days! In some families, little token gifts are exchanged each day, just as in the song. Alas, however, all things must end. So, with hearts a bit heavy, we wrap it all up on January 6th, the Epiphany (which commemorates the arrival of the wise magi in Bethlehem), and poignantly go back out into the real world and return to our regular lives. Until next November 1st!
And that is pretty much how we do it. A splendidly long way to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas. And that, friends, is the Naoi Meadow Way. www.naoimeadow.org
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