The post-Christmas letdown stems from misunderstanding Christmas. Even those of us who celebrate Christmas as Christians are not immune to this. We are heavily influenced by cultural expectations of sentimental joy. When families again separate, when the everyday challenges return, the holiday of Christmas recedes. Struggles can again bring us down. Or, worldly ambitions take our eyes away from Christ. We end up thinking like this: “The story of Bethlehem, shepherds, and angels was nice. But it’s not the stuff of real life.”

Into this steps a man and woman older and wiser than us. The man is named Simeon. The woman, Anna, is that rarest of people, a prophetess. Each tells us an important truth about Jesus. Each also shows us how Jesus was not only for them the stuff of real life, but the center of all human life.