In the midst of a crowd of people jostling one another during the Christmas rush at Upper Valley Mall, a man remarked to me, "I’m glad that Christmas comes only once a year. It leaves my pocketbook pretty thin." If all that Christmas means is a seasonal shopping spree, it leaves only a bitter taste in the mouth. To be sure, there is a sweet sentimentality about the candlelight service on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day itself is joyfully observed in our homes. But then what? Suddenly the long awaited holiday is all over and the inevitable feeling of letdown sets in. Another Christmas has come and gone. Does this mean that like the ornaments on the Christmas tree the Christmas story too is to be stored away until next year?

The poet James Russell Lowell gave expression to a different conc…