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{"id":1204,"date":"2023-01-03T00:51:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T00:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/12tide.com\/?p=1204"},"modified":"2023-01-03T01:10:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T01:10:14","slug":"january-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/12tide.com\/january-3\/","title":{"rendered":"January 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Post Header” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ custom_margin=”50px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”100%” max_width=”1600px” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Bellefair||||||||” text_font_size=”33px” min_height=”59px” custom_padding=”3px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ text_font_size_tablet=”33px” text_font_size_phone=”17px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u2014Activities<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Gift Giving<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Scripture<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0Prayer<\/a><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0Literature<\/a><\/span> \u00a0 Reflection <\/a>\u00a0 Carols<\/a><\/span>\u2014<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Bodoni Moda|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#F26552″ text_font_size=”46px” header_font=”Bodoni Moda||||||||” text_font_size_tablet=”46px” text_font_size_phone=”37px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” text_line_height_tablet=”” text_line_height_phone=”1.1em” text_line_height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]

The Tenth Day of Christmas<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/12tide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Anders_Andersen-Lundby_Man_with_a_sledge_in_winter_landscape_1872.jpg” title_text=”Anders_Andersen-Lundby_Man_with_a_sledge_in_winter_landscape_1872″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id=”reflection” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”2em” text_orientation=”justified” custom_padding=”||0px|||” text_font_size_tablet=”15px” text_font_size_phone=”14px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” locked=”off” inline_fonts=”Bellefair” global_colors_info=”{}”]

The Tenth Day of Christmas: Yes, It’s Still Christmas!<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Does it still feel at all like Christmas to you?\u00a0 If you’re like me, the answer is “No, not really.”\u00a0 Most of us have gone back to work and have taken up habits that we think might help us live better this year.\u00a0 It is, we feel, time for determination and action rather than contemplation or celebration.\u00a0 On December 24 or December 26, twelve whole days of Christmas might have seemed like a great idea.\u00a0 Now, it seems…out of step.\u00a0 It’s time, instead, to get to work.\u00a0 To start the year off right.\u00a0 Enough with the feasts, January seems to say–<\/span>let’s have some secular fasting.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there seems to be a different quality to the light itself now that we’ve reached January.\u00a0 The Christmas coziness and mystery, the fireplaces and bright lights-in-darkness has somehow given way, in a week’s time, to something a bit more…gray.\u00a0 The days seem brighter, but not really in a cheerful way.\u00a0 I thought at first that maybe this had to do with Christmas lights being taken down, but when I look around, I notice that most are still up.\u00a0 This qualitative difference, though, is really fascinating to me.\u00a0 I don’t think there are two consecutive months that are more different than January and December, and the reason is not natural–<\/span>it’s cultural.\u00a0 Let’s back up a moment and think about what this says about humans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First, it says that my attitudes and experience of reality are\u00a0<\/span>far<\/em>\u00a0more culturally mediated than I care to acknowledge, even to myself.\u00a0 The weather itself looks different to me, despite the fact that I am still celebrating Christmas along with my family.\u00a0 Yet because December 25, along with January 1, has come and gone, something insistent within me–something connected to how most people around me are feeling and what they are doing, apprehends reality differently to the point that the very sky seems to have changed.\u00a0 Now, I am also hard-wired to resent this–to fight against such conditioning, so that I can be “original,” or “authentic,” or “myself,” whatever that means.\u00a0\u00a0(This hard-wiring, of course, is equally a product of the odd quirks in my own culture.)<\/span><\/p>\n

But originality for originality’s sake is actually rather pointless, besides being unachievable.\u00a0 The important thing is to harness and even embrace this tendency to be formed by our culture, in order to bring us into alignment with Reality, while resisting the tendency when it destroys us.\u00a0 So yes, other people being “done” with Christmas affects my experience of the seasons, and that’s fine, and even kind of cool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But I want to do what I can to create, to contribute to, a culture where Christmas is less a month-long commercial binge-with-a-climax to end the year (being to the year what a Saturday night party is to the working week), and more of a feast, commencing\u00a0<\/span>after<\/em>\u00a0a long, prayerful fast–a twelve-day uninterrupted feast, celebrating the Incarnation, that both ends and begins the civic year.\u00a0 I want to do this partly because I think it will make my own life happier, but also partly because I think it will enrich others’ lives.\u00a0 I want to resist those aspects of our “Christmas social programming” that lead to long-term unhappiness, and I want to embrace those things that draw me closer to Christ and my neighbor.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ header_font=”Bellefair||||||||” header_text_color=”#000000″ header_font_size=”48px” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_2_font=”Bellefair||||||||” header_2_text_align=”left” header_2_text_color=”#000000″ header_2_font_size=”48px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_font=”Bellefair||||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_3_font_size=”38px” header_3_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Bellefair||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font_size=”30px” header_4_line_height=”1.4em” header_5_font=”Bellefair||||||||” header_5_text_color=”#000000″ header_5_font_size=”22px” header_5_line_height=”1.2em” header_6_font=”Montserrat|700||on|||||” header_6_text_color=”#ff4e00″ header_6_font_size=”12px” header_6_letter_spacing=”2px” header_6_line_height=”1.2em” header_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_font_size_phone=”34px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_font_size_tablet=”” header_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” border_color_all=”#ff4e00″ border_width_bottom=”4px” text_text_align=”justify” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” header_2_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_3_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_4_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_5_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_6_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_2_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_3_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_4_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_5_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_6_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_2_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_4_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_5_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_6_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_2_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_3_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_4_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_5_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_6_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_2_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_3_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_4_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_5_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_6_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_2_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_3_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_6_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_3_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_4_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_5_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_6_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_2_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_3_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_4_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_5_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_6_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_2_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_3_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_6_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_3_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_4_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_5_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_6_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_2_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_4_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_5_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_6_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet”]

I don’t think there are two consecutive months that are more different than January and December, and the reason is not natural\u2014<\/span>it’s cultural.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”2em” text_orientation=”justified” custom_margin=”-14px|||||” custom_padding=”||57px|||” text_font_size_tablet=”15px” text_font_size_phone=”14px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]

This is also a time when we can affirm that Christmas really is about Christ, and that drawing near to him is more important than feelings brought on by the smell of nutmeg, holly, twinkling, or jingling.\u00a0 It’s more important than the lights of December, wonderful as they are.\u00a0 And if we continue to celebrate, we may well find the very thing to which all those bells and lights were bearing witness, deep beneath the gray January of the soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

We think of fasting as being difficult and feasting as being easy.\u00a0 But it can be difficult to rejoice.\u00a0 Celebrating this tenth day of Christmas may feel wrong.\u00a0 It’s secular Lent, after all–the time to make resolutions and make them come true, under our own steam.\u00a0 But celebration may be an act, not of gluttony and sloth, but of faith.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Post Body” _builder_version=”4.16″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/12tide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/A_Christmas_Carol_-_Mr._Fezziwigs_Ball.jpg” title_text=”A_Christmas_Carol_-_Mr._Fezziwig’s_Ball” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ max_width=”100%” min_height=”375px” height=”620px” height_tablet=”620px” height_phone=”270px” height_last_edited=”on|phone” max_height=”643px” max_height_tablet=”643px” max_height_phone=”184px” max_height_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id=”activities” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ header_2_font=”Bellefair||||||||” header_2_text_color=”#000000″ header_2_font_size=”48px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_6_font=”Montserrat|700||on|||||” header_6_text_color=”#ff4e00″ header_6_font_size=”12px” header_6_letter_spacing=”2px” header_6_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”700px” module_alignment=”center” header_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” header_6_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_6_font_size_phone=”34px” header_6_font_size_last_edited=”off|phone” text_text_align=”justify” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” header_2_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_3_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_4_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_5_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_6_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_2_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_3_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_4_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_5_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_6_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_2_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_4_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_5_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_6_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_2_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_3_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_4_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_5_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_6_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_2_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_3_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_4_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_5_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_6_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_2_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_3_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_6_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_3_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_4_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_5_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_6_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_2_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_3_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_4_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_5_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_6_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_2_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_3_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_6_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_3_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_4_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_5_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_6_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_2_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_4_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_5_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_6_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet”]

January 3<\/h6>\n

Activities<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ text_font=”Bellefair||||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_line_height=”1.5em” header_font_size=”26px” header_4_font=”Bellefair||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font_size=”24px” header_4_line_height=”1.4em” text_orientation=”justified” custom_padding=”||0px|||” text_font_size_tablet=”15px” text_font_size_phone=”21px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_font_size_tablet=”” header_4_font_size_phone=”24px” header_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” text_text_align=”justify” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” header_2_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_3_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_4_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_5_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_6_2_font_size_tablet=”42px” header_2_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_3_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_4_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_5_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_6_2_font_size_phone=”34px” header_2_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_4_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_5_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_6_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_2_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_3_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_4_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_5_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_6_3_font_size_tablet=”34px” header_2_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_3_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_4_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_5_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_6_3_font_size_phone=”28px” header_2_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_3_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_6_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_3_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_4_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_5_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_6_4_font_size_tablet=”22px” header_2_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_3_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_4_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_5_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_6_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_2_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_3_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_4_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_6_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_3_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_4_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_5_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_6_5_font_size_phone=”16px” header_2_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_4_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_5_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_6_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet”]