Is Christmas over?

I went to the Gingerbread Extravaganza at the Jacksonville Historical Society, now at the Haskell Building by EverBank Field. There are categories for different age groups and subcategories for kinds of houses. Some newer entries are deconstructed more than one would think for traditional gingerbread houses. All the houses had to be made of items that were edible, with the exception of some fairy lights for accent. I recommend it for a holiday outing, but you will have to plan for next year as the exhibit closes this weekend.

For Santa, Christmas is over, as is in the detail of a beach scene. A pasty white Santa is reclining on brown sugar "sand" on his beach towel made of a fruit roll-up. He is catching some sun after his trips all over the world.

To give you an idea of the amazing detail that can be achieved, see the entry that won “Best in Show."

Is Christmas over at your house? Is the wrapping paper in the recycling? Are the holiday pajamas in the laundry? Have the relatives left? Some people take trees and decorations down on Dec. 26. Probably because they have been up since Thanksgiving. I am always a little sad when streets go dark when outside lights are taken down.

As I was growing up, our family celebrated the 12 days of Christmas. We waited until the week before Christmas to put up our tree. We left it up until January 6, the traditional celebration of the Epiphany, or visit of the Three Kings. As children, we received one more small gift to celebrate the kings. Easter Orthodox Christians traditionally celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7. For them, Christmas is not over. It hasn’t even begun.

For others, Christmas is over because it didn’t start. They just weren’t “feeling it” this year. There are many reasons one could feel this way and all of them are valid. Political uncertainty, financial worry, family strife or estrangement, recent bereavement and illnesses are all reasons for a host of messy feelings that lend a sense of relief when Dec. 25 is passed. We are all capable of having unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others over the holidays. Disappointment can feel inevitable. Disgruntlement can be optional if we know ourselves well enough. It's easy to say “presence over presents.” How many of us are able to be present to the moment, fully inhabiting our bodies and aware of our feelings? This takes thoughtful and conscious intention. There is a lot about the traditional ways of celebrating the holidays in our society that squeeze out the room for that kind of personal reflection.

Whether you are a tired Santa, a Christmas Elf who loves every movie, ribbon, bow and cookie, a Grinch who enjoys being a curmudgeon or someone who feels left out of it all, I hope we can make room for each other and for our own thoughts and feelings.

One of my favorite post-Christmas reflections is well known, but I think it bears repeating, especially for anyone unfamiliar with it. It is by the Christian writer, scholar, teacher and theologian, Howard Thurman. He was an amazing man who was not bowed by expectations or confined by traditional categories. He was mystical when others were literal. Here is his writing, “The Mood of Christmas.”