How Did Your Boxing Day Go?
What are you talking about, Donna? For those of us who know Canada’s holidays, we can tell you that yesterday, December 26th, was not only a day for Santas everywhere to catch their breath, but, in Canada, Boxing Day is celebrated.
Though it lends to the fact that empty boxes from the gifts and presents are trashed and unwanted gifts are returned to stores, it came from a British origin that is traced back to 1833 when lords of manors and aristocrats distributed “Christmas boxes” filled with gifts, money and leftovers from Christmas dinner to their household servants and employees. They had been required to work on December 25th and were recognized for their good service throughout the year.
It is also said that Boxing Day’s name came from the charity boxes that were placed in churches during the Advent season for the collection of monetary donations to be distributed to the poor on December 26th. It is also the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr and and known for his acts of charity. (Ireland celebrates December 26th as St. Stephen’s Day.) So there you go — now you know what Boxing Day is! You’re welcome!
Boxing Day, a few years ago, was taken to a whole new level when my daughter and family were moving to another home. Then two years ago, I moved from my home in Frisco, TX to my apartment home in Austin. This year, my son and family moved to a new home just a couple of weeks before Christmas. In all instances, our birthday celebrations for Jesus were literally amidst boxes.
We loaded boxes and moved them to their new place of residences. Amidst all the movement on our part, we never forgot that Christmas Day is Jesus’ birthday. We wished Him “Happy Birthday” in our prayers and in our expressions of gratitude for Him making that day one we all love and cherish!
I would be remiss to end this blog with Boxing Day “talk”, because while we’ll soon be boxing away our Christmas decorations that include the manger scenes and Holy Family figurines, along with the treasured family photos, precious ornaments that carry many memories and the lights and garland, we will never be able to box away God’s great love for us.
For some, seeing Jesus as a baby in a manger and “boxing” Him away for another year is as close as they want to get. Perhaps the grown-up Jesus seems too far removed from their every day life.
But, if we keep Jesus at arm’s length, we’ll never get to know and love Him for Who He truly is. If we don’t get to know Him, we won’t love Him. If we want to move faith from our heads to our hearts, we must fall in love with the REAL — alive and well — Jesus.
To fall in love with Jesus, it must be more than a once-a-year celebration. It must be an every day relationship! That kind of knowledge takes time and persistence, just like any good relationship. Jesus invites us to abide in His love — rest, stay, tarry — not rush past it. In John 15:9, He said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
How do we get to that kind of love? There are so many reasons to love Jesus. He is real, and He loves us so much. For us to experience that love, we need to really know Him. As my children and I stood at the front doors of our new homes, we stand at the door of a new year. Won’t you join me in seeking to know Him more? That’s my Priority #1 for the new year!
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”. (Ephesians 3:17-19)