Keeping My Poinsettia Alive

RISE editor Wendy Rush has two New Year resolutions – this year she aims to keep her plant and the Christmas spirit alive for as long as she can.

I am writing this outdoors on a typical Summer’s afternoon in Adelaide, South Australia. In front of me sits a Poinsettia plant in a red and green pot that I bought to adorn the table for our traditional outdoor Christmas lunch. Unfortunately my lack of green thumbs has meant Poinsettias purchased in the past have not fared very well in the longer term.

We are now well into the New Year and the plant looks to be thriving but the memory of the Festive Season is fading fast. Apart from this one remnant, all the decorations that have adorned our home inside and out have been taken down and carefully stowed away in the spare room, under the bed or on the top shelf of the wardrobe. As I dismantled Christmas this year, placing each piece of tinsel and each bauble safely in its storage place, I wondered – what else do we pack away with the Christmas decorations?

There are many things we do in the lead up to Christmas that seem to disappear by the time the left over turkey and pudding have been consumed. And it strikes me as being rather sad that we put aside some very wonderful traditions that, if observed daily rather than annually, would enrich our society no end.

Spending time with family is one such tradition. It is expected that we will congregate, often in inadequate spaces atop an eclectic assortment of furniture, with relatives young and old, happy to share the day and the meal with a whole range of characters of different ages and backgrounds. I have heard my friends say that one of the things they like most about Christmas is that it is the one time of the year when every member of the family comes together at the same time.

My question is, why does it only happen at this time but no other time? If it is important to you to have all the family together, and each family member makes the effort to be there, then why not elect two, three, or four other days a year when you can do the same? Let’s not make Christmas a time when families suffer each other, watching the clock until they can finally, with some relief, beg their departure. And let’s commit to managing our time so that another year doesn’t slip by before we do it all over again.

We also tend to open up to others more freely. It must be that mysterious ‘goodwill toward men’ factor. Some of us organise street parties with the neighbours or even extend an invitation to others separated from their own families to join us for Christmas dinner. At the very least we all seem to be more polite, even chatty, to those we encounter casually at the shopping centre, bus stop, workplace or school. I imagine we could build a much more vibrant community if, throughout the year, we developed a habit of getting together with neighbours, conversing more freely with others we deal with on a day to day basis, and filling our homes with the laughter of the lonely or alone.

Each year I send and receive about 30 Christmas cards. I know this is miniscule in comparison to people like my Mother who probably receive four times that many, or perhaps it is a lot when compared to others. But at Christmas time it seems particularly important we make contact with old friends and family. Some of my friends make the effort to write annual newsletters (no longer hand written, but still delivered by the postie rather than the email) outlining the highlights of their year. This year I actually took the time to write to a couple of people. I am not one to compile generic ‘newsletters’ because I keep wanting to make personal comments and observations, drawing on the memories of that particular relationship. Perhaps this is why I haven’t made a habit of the Christmas letter as I would probably need to write thirty of them! And for two decades I have sent a Christmas card to a previous boss of mine who, in the last couple of years, has taken to phoning me instead of sending me a card in return. He is now well into his 80s but it is lovely to be able to catch up and talk for 10 minutes or so about life, family and old colleagues.

I know we have Face Book, My Space, email, SMS, Twitter and other social media, but how nice it would be for us to take time to make a phone call or write a personal letter to distant friends and family at regular intervals during the year. It will help us to feel more connected, make them feel more cared for and will mean those Christmas newsletters don’t need to be so long!

In the hurry of Christmas preparations, when finances are already stretched to the limit, we also somehow make the time to give generously to those in need. It’s wonderful that in this day and age there are lots of ways we can do this, whether contributing to food hampers, buying gifts for disadvantaged children, purchasing goats, seeds or toilets as overseas aid or donating money or time to various charitable causes. Is this Christmas-time generosity representative of just another day in a life driven by compassion for others? Probably not. It is more likely to be just the one day of the year when we are prompted to think about ‘others’ more than ‘self’ – how nice to have this flow over into the New Year too!

A trip to church for many is a once a year ‘Christmas’ event. And for those who go to church every week, Christmas is often the once a year opportunity to invite friends and family along. It is a great time to share the story of Jesus Christ, but can we bring ourselves to invite others to church throughout the year? Most churches have special events that may be of interest to the broader community, so why not extend that invitation more often?

Of course the most significant thing amidst all this Christmas activity is the central focus of Jesus. Do we take this central focus with us, or do we leave the baby in the manger when we pack away the nativity scene? Christmas of course is a celebration of the birth of the Christ child. He entered into our world and experienced all the limits, the challenges, the suffering and the joys that our world has to offer. He grew into a man who taught and ministered to others and he showed us God, in human form. He died, rose again and lives among us and, most of all, as God, he invites us into his World, into his Kingdom. If we really understood this, it would change our ‘every day’ into Christmas Day in the sense that the hope, love and wonder of God becoming man would stay with us, regardless of the Season.

So you have packed away the tinsel and the baubles? Why not retrieve one decoration and place it somewhere as a reminder to take the spirit, goodwill and good news of the Season into the New Year? As for me, I will work very hard this year to keep my Poinsettia alive, and with it the spirit of Christmas.