From the Vicarage

I wonder what Christmas means to you? And if you think in advance about Christmas, do you do so with a groan and a sense of impending doom, or with a sense of joyful celebration and anticipation of really good things to come?

I guess it’s possible to have all of this in a big muddle inside you. Whether this relates to all the planning and rushing around to get things organised for the festive season, or whether it’s as you think about sharing the holiday period with family members that you don’t often see and maybe might not always choose to be with. Or, indeed, you may be anticipating a time when everything grinds to a halt and leaves you high and dry with nowhere to go to and no-one to share with. And that can be very grim.

If you are a Christian – whether it’s as a regular church attendee or someone who goes when the occasion or your emotional state indicates – Christmas will, of course, have that added dimension of being part of the cycle of the Christian year in which we remember different aspects of the Jesus Story. Since Christianity started in the northern hemisphere, the depths of winter were a really good time to be thinking of the great joy of the baby born in Bethlehem. It got attached to, and superseded, some of the folk or pagan celebrations of the darkest times of the year, when people comforted themselves with the reminder that the sun and warmth would return. Gathering around bright fires, eating and drinking in the warmth of companionship and family were all part of cheering us up.

As Christians, we remember that Jesus, whom we think of as the light of the world, came as a small and vulnerable baby: a baby who personifies the promise of our creator God to be with us, in all our messiness and our problems. Jesus was born into a dangerous and unstable country, lived under a brutal invading regime and even as he took his first faltering steps, his life came under threat. His birth was foretold by prophets and was heralded by a bright star, but the circumstances were a disgrace to his parents and a puzzle for his home town. As he grew, he challenged the authorities and brought down upon himself the wrath and the vengeance of both the invading regime and the religious leaders of his own country. In his birth we celebrate the joy of having God come to live among us, but we never forget that he was to die in a horrific and painful way when he was still a relatively young man.

All this gets encompassed in the amazing Christmas experience we can have as Christians, but primarily I guess what we want to do is rejoice and be glad. Our God loved us so much that despite being all-powerful, all-seeing and all-knowing, He wanted to come and get right alongside us and live a human life: to experience the joys and the sorrows, the fears and the excitement that are part of being human. So that when we feel low, or rejoice, we know that God our Father is right there with us – not a distant and disengaged deity who takes no particular interest in us unless we try to please him, but a loving, concerned parent who wants the best for us.

So what does Christmas mean to me? Well, yes of course it means a lot of hard work – it comes with the territory as someone working full-time in God’s vineyard! And yes it means a house full of people who will use up all the hot water and eat me out of house and home. But ultimately, what Christmas means to me is the reminder that my God loves me and actually came to live here on earth, to teach us how to live, to show us the miracle of God’s power, and to lead us to know and to love God as a generous and caring father. And that is why, despite all the pressures, Christmas is for me the most joyous and wonderful time of the year … and I hope it can be for you too.

With much love – Gail xxxx