Christmas has worn me out. Much of it is the effect of having Christmas Day and its octave on Fridays. In the parish ministry, weekends are often the most intense work time; in general one works the most on weekends, evenings, and early in the morning when ordinary folks have time for elective activities and voluntary associations like religion.
Having Christmas and the octave on successive Fridays makes for this curious experience of going through a weekend schedule of services only to wake up the next day and have it be Saturday again. Have four of these "weekends" in two weeks, throw in a few parties, a couple of big funerals, and the fielding of Christmas engagements, and its enough to make someone tired.
6 comments:
After next weekend, you'll be back in Ordinary Time... (chuckle) I hope you are getting needed rest this week though...
Think of the single mom who works full time, juggles work and school schedules, manages home and chores, and squeezes in the time to make Santa Claus real for her children.
I think the prior comment by "Anonymous#1" shows the differences inherent in the vocations to the parental life and the religious life. Each has its own stresses and its own rewards, and the individuals who choose each of those states in life cannot always fully appreciate the challenges of others.
Which is why it's always good to share our struggles with one another and always be able to confess that we're all short-sighted sometimes.
Anonymous 1's comments reminds me of those people who rain on everyone's party with "wouldn't the money be better spent on the poor?" and always rebuke someone for expressing an honest emotion by telling you about someone worse off than you.
I sympathize fully. 'Cuz I spent my time the day before Christmas Eve up until tonight cooking, except for sleep and 3-4 expeditions of pre-holiday food shopping (an awful and exhausting chore). Cooking to meet a time limit has got to be one of the most stressful chores; don't know how those tv chefs do it. For me, it didn't end just bec. the two Eves and Days had passed. Supplies not fully used up, instead of being wasted, had to re-appear in variations in the intervening days between Dec. 25 and Dec. 31st, and again after Jan. 1st. I was especially conscientious this year but never again. Yep, we cancelled a Christmas Eve dinner out because of the ongoing pandemic.
I'm just saying.
Anonymous #3
Post a Comment