Christmas Presence

Numerically, my family is very small… so I have no experience of large family gatherings at festive times.

Vocation has meant that I have normally worked on Christmas Day…so I have no concept of a gentle start and unhurried preparations.

My marriage ended many, many years ago…so memories of opening Christmas presents with my daughter on Christmas Day end over twenty years ago.

On reflection, I have done some quirky things over the years.

On one occasion, I ended up in Stirling…don’t ask why; my main memory is of talking to a couple who had lost their only child in a road accident. I also arrived over an hour early for church.

On another occasion, a last minute – and extremely tentative – decision meant that I spent Christmas with friends. It was thoroughly enjoyable…but it was strange to be a ‘single’ staying in a family home over Christmas.

I’ve done my share of cooking Christmas dinner for others on 25^th December… and even now, a degree of uncertainty reigns, even in respect of Christmas 2009: who knows what BA will be doing in over a month’s time! My mother likes order, certainty, boundaries, and I have to tell her that there are still things which cannot be planned with any confidence.

Yet… well, I have always gained a great deal from Christmas. In terms of what happens on the day, I have no set expectations, no received raft of traditions, and this continues to be liberating. I suspect that this enables me to keep what is often referred to as the ‘message’ of Christmas in perspective: the coming of Christ was not a static event…it represented the start of something new, ground-breaking, organic. For me, Jesus represents movement, and I remain glad that my Christmasses have never had the chance to fossilize into something set or rigid.

Wishing you joy and peace, With much love in Christ.