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Christmas 2020: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry for Tomorrow You Die

Celebrating the Biblical Way

Mary DeVries
3 min readDec 24, 2020
Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

As I wrapped yet another bottle of spirits and placed it under the tree for my spouse to open on Christmas Day, I decided this was the year to fully embrace Biblical wisdom, specifically this verse:

So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun. Ecclesiastes 8:15 NRSV

Christmas this year is going to be a bit different. There are no trips to gather with distant family members. No fancy restaurant meals with all the decorations and trimmings. The one present ordered online at the beginning of the month might arrive by 2021 if Brexit doesn’t push it off even further.

There are no carol services or nativity plays. No mulled wine in the pub with all our neighbors after the village Christmas tree lighting. No hours spent jostling with crowds shopping.

It is easy to focus on what there won’t be but I’m embracing the spirit of Ecclesiastes and celebrating what is. There will be plenty of eating, drinking, and enjoying ourselves in this household.

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Mary DeVries
Mary DeVries

Written by Mary DeVries

I delight, despair and write about a life lived around the world. Fueled by Yorkshire Gold tea.

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