December Message

An Ordinary Christmas?

It’s always a delight to write the Christmas article knowing the December

Telescope has a unique, colourful artistic cover that brings joy when the magazine

lands on the doorstep.

Finally, it looks like we will be able to celebrate Christmas with some sense of

normality this year, although rising prices mean our feasts may need to be

somewhat smaller as the cost of living continues to increase. The presence of

Covid these last years has muted the celebration of Christmas and has threatened

to make it ordinary. Yet Christmas is never, ever ordinary. The decision of God to

come and live among God’s people is simply extraordinary.

Baby Jesus takes God from a grumpy old man sat in the clouds above us and

literally brings God down to earth for each and every one of us. O Come O Come

Emmanuel, the words so familiar to us, are our seasonal reminder that God

comes to be with us. Jesus’ birth, the one-off spectacular event which we

celebrate at Christmas, is followed by a life that shows us how to be human, a

death which proves how much God loves us, and a resurrection that conquers

death and gives us hope that carries us through the bad times and connects us as

we celebrate all the good in our lives.

This year in the run-up to Christmas we have the football World Cup. Regardless

of the eventual winner, the event has put the spotlight on a country’s civil rights

abuses, and we hope and pray that positive change will result. Whether the

event should have been held there in the first place is a discussion for another

time and place.

Wherever, whenever and with whomever you celebrate this Christmas, God’s

love is with you, those who you love, and with all the special people who are no

longer with us who we remember with special fondness at Christmas.

Have a wonderful time.

God bless you.

Revd Chris