Some thoughts about Christmas

I’ve been having a think ~ can you hear the cogs whirring?

More to the point, I’ve been having a think about Christmas, and pondering the stuff that sometimes flies about concerning the secularisation of Christmas, the arrival of Winterfest etc., because it’s quite easy to get such stuff out of proportion. Of course, I can only blog this from the perspective of someone living in the UK, but from what I’ve seen, it’s all looking healthy out there! The “Luminos”, “Winterfest” hysteria is something of an urban myth, as I blogged last year:

Luton does not have a festival called Luminos. It does not use any alternative name for Christmas. When it did, once, five years ago, hold something called Luminos one weekend in late November, the event didn’t even replace the council’s own Christmas celebrations, let alone forbid anyone else from doing anything. Similarly, Christmas is not called Winterval in Birmingham. The Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children never banned a Christmas CD for mentioning Jesus. And Chester council’s “un-Christian” Christmas card says – as cards have done for decades – “Season’s Greetings”.

Just being observant this year, I am happy to see that every school in my town will be holding a Carol Service at the local Anglican Church, the Catholic Schools at my Parish Church; I have seen a number of Nativity sets in various shops around the town; all the card shops are stocking religious-themed Christmas cards; decorations abound with the words “Happy Christmas”, and not a Winterfest or a Happy Holiday to be seen. The secularites have not stolen Christmas in Cheshire

I advocate the right of everyone to celebrate this time of year, whether Christian or not, because in doing so, something of the religious significance might just rub off. Whether that’s by “accidentally” watching the Midnight Mass on tv on Christmas Eve, or humming to the strains of  ”Silent Night” played by the Sally Army band on the square.

Shoot me for saying so, but a mid-winter celebration was around long before Christmas, and it is most likely true that Christ was not born in December…the pagan Celts called it the Winter Solstice, and the Yule Log was burned through the longest night of the year to bring light into the deepest, darkest time of the year. Some people still have Yule Logs, only made of chocolate; we may hang evergreen holly in our homes (a sign of immortality) and mistletoe (a sign of life to come);  we erect a  pine tree (bringing green life into our homes in the depths of winter). All of these symbols have their roots in pagan customs. Now I’m certainly not one of those Christians who cries “get thee behind me Satan” at the sight of a Christmas tree or a piece of holly, ~ what I am trying to say is that Christmas is for everyone, whether Christian or not, and we can either hang on to it and declare joylessly ”get your hands off, Christmas belongs to us!”, or we can recognise that within it are plenty of opportunities to reach out in joy, peace and “goodwill to all [wo]men”.

And I believe Christmas has another meaning, which all can and should share in, and that is childlike wonder. My daughter is not a Christian, the feast of Christmas has no religious significance for her, she doesn’t go to Church, but every year she is lost in the wonder of Christmas which stems mainly from childhood memories. I wasn’t a Christian either when she was small, but we always loved Christmas and made sure to create happy memories for our children. Yes, they believed in Father Christmas as does my little Grandson now (and he also gets a present on Saint Nicholas Day on the 6th!). We left the mince pie and glass of sherry for him, and the carrot for Rudolph and played along until they reached the “age of reason”…the house was always decorated in bright coloured streamers and other decorations, which my daughter in her own home has worked hard to replicate with retro streamers from eBay! I loved filling their stockings and leaving presents under the tree, as she does now. She may not be a Christian, but the season has meaning for her, and whether she acknowledges Him or not, God is in it, just as He was in her childhood Christmasses, and He will make Himself known.

God cannot be pushed out of Christmas by mere man ~ His Spirit pervades all of it whether we see it or not (yes, even Morrisons on a busy Saturday ), and He cannot be limited, and the tools He uses are…US! It is up to us to revel in the joyousness of the Season, to reach out in love, to “enter in” to the lives of others as Jesus “enters in”  to our hearts, because WE may be the only sign of Christ in the Christmas of those who don’t yet know Him.

 artwork by andrew gadd

He is already in our midst!!