My favorite after-Christmas poem is W.H. Auden’s “The Flight into Egypt.” It talks about Mary and Joseph fleeing through the desert with their baby son. And it talks about putting away Christmas decorations, about heading back to work, and about the tedious stretch of time in the Church calendar between Christmas and Lent. I wish I could post a link to the whole poem, but I can’t find it in its entirety online. Here is the last part:
NARRATOR 
…. In the meantime
There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance. The happy morning is over,
The night of agony still to come; the time is noon:
When the Spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing
Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure
A silence that is neither for nor against her faith
That God’s Will will be done, that, in spite of her prayers,
God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph.
CHORUS
He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
I love the anticipation of Advent and the celebration of Christmas. But afterwards, I take down the decorations and return to ordinary life, and it turns out it’s the middle of winter. So I always feel a bit sad during the last days of December. And this year, more than usual, the New Year ahead looks vague and uncertain. The final chorus of Auden’s poem has become something of a mantra for me. It reminds me that, like this season of the year, adventures contain both the ordinary and the unknown. It reminds me that I want to keep following Jesus and see what adventures may come.
So here’s to following, seeking, and loving the Way, the Truth, and the Life in the coming year. I hope to see rare beasts and have unique adventures in 2010. Hope you do too. Happy New Year!
Posted by Elise 
