Thoughts for the Day after Christmas

It's the day after Christmas, which this year fell on a Sunday.  I write this late in the afternoon, having shared in worship (read the story of Barrington Bunny from Martin Bell's Way of the Wolf)  and watched a Lion's football game (the won the game at Miami, by the way).   It's a day to sort of sit back, relax, and reflect.  But, even as our culture has now moved on to the next "holiday," which is Valentines Day, we shouldn't let the Christmas season go quite yet. 

I probably needn't remind everyone that the 12 days of Christmas don't end on Christmas Day, but actually begin there.  I say, I shouldn't have to remind folks, but perhaps it is required.  So, what should we do with these 12 days?  How do we keep alive the message of the incarnation in all its mystery?

I recognize with Borg and Crossan that there is much in the infancy narratives that is parabolic, but what does this mean?  Does it mean that the entire story is mere metaphor?  At the same time, do we have to become hung up on proving every aspect of the story for it to be true?  Is there not something more here, something in between metaphor and factuality?  That is, in what way should we understand the church's historic confession that in this person we call Christ we meet both a truly human person and the living God?