When I was a kid, my parents would host several Christmas parties each year — one for each of the adult Sunday school classes from our church. In preparation for each party, my mother would employ me in vacuuming the living room, mixing the punch, lighting the candles, and such.

One task that invariably came before the first party of each Christmas season involved the silver tea set. It was a lovely set, but we seldom used it apart from the annual Christmas parties. Consequently, when December rolled around, the set looked dark and tarnished, and so it became my job to polish the silver set before the first party each year.

We all have things like that. Things that we don’t use very often. Things that we bring out only for special occasions, and when we bring them out, they need to be du…