Lingering over Christmas, hanging with the Wiseguys

Lingering over Christmas, hanging with the Wiseguys

Posted on January 7th, 2010 by Jeff McDonald

In many respects, Christmas is just a memory, now. Variations of “How was your holiday?” are disappearing from our conversation, depleted shelves of Christmas goods (at dramatically-reduced prices) are giving way to shelves stuffed with Valentine’s Day goods, and the ‘fridge has been cleared — one way or another — of the last ripening remnants of Christmas dinner leftovers.

Considering that we’re only now, finally regaining our breath and our sanity from Hectic Holiday Hustle 2009, is this any time to talk of lingering over Christmas?

Well … yes, actually. It just might be, as was suggested this past Sunday at church, and again last night — ‘church night’ here, in this part of the country — during a special Epiphany Celebration Dinner, an evening of food and fellowship, poetry and prayer … and gifts!

You see, last night’s gathering was something of a stretch for us … westerners, Protestants — Presbyterians, no less. But, deciding not to turn off the spirit of the season like a string of colored lights at 12:00:01 a.m., December 26, we instead chose this year to linger over Christmas, joining with other western Christians in celebrating the revelation of God-made-Man in the visitation of the Biblical Magi — the original Wiseguys — to the Baby Jesus.

Relying solely upon the Bible, there’s not much we actually know about the Wiseguys. Less than twenty lines in the Book of Matthew – a few facts, and the basis for some strong assumptions, and that’s it. Really, most of what we ‘know’ about them comes from various traditions over the last 1,500 years, and a 19th-century Christmas carol.

But we do know that, whoever they were and from wherever they came, they came bearing gifts. And that was a tradition we honored last night, with gifts for babies and toddlers — cans of formula, jars of baby food, boxes of cereal, diapers and wipes — which will be distributed to our church’s mission partners who serve young children.

It was a wonderful evening, and I am a better person for having taken part in it. I also came away from it with the thought that I might find ways to continue lingering over Christmas, and hanging with the Wiseguys, throughout the year ahead.

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Jeff McDonald

There's a saying around here, something like, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" That's me. I'm a 'dang Yankee from back-east' who settled in the Lone Star State after some extended stays in the eastern U.S., and New Mexico. I worked as an archaeologist for a few years before dusting off my second major in English, and embarking on a 25-year career in journalism. Since then, I've embraced the dark side of the force, and now work in PR for a community college in Midland, Texas.