So this is Christmas. More and more I am challenged by what Christmas means, and how I should celebrate it. Last year our church focussed on Advent and, coupled with having most of Advent off, helped me to focus on looking forward, and thinking about teh arrival of God in our world again.
This year I spent alot of Advent being tired - teaching is exhausting. I couldn't get caught up in the hype and so, quite by mistake, I arrived at the week before Christmas ready for a rest, and ready to focus on spending time with the people I love and care for.
At our Christmas Carol Service there was a audio visual presentation and this quote struck me:
" The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how much."
I am realising that Christmas is not about presents, or food, or money. It is about giving time and love. Its about having conversations with people you only see at Christmas, listening to the people you thought you knew, but have grown and changed with the passing of the years, peeling potatoes and parsnips for Christmas lunch, chatting over glasses of champagne with your newly married friends in their lovely home, pulling on your thermals to watch a ruggby game you know your team will lose. It's about making 3.5kg of fudge, and grapefruit marmalade late at night.
I hope that I have managed to do that this year.
I know that there are many people I fail to love like I should. I know that there are people I fail to stay in touch with, things I could do but don't and things I say or think that I shouldn't.
I know that Jesus, when He stepped into the story that is my world and yours, was ready for the good and the bad. He came into a dirty difficult world, eyes open and ready to show it love. He never failed, and that allows me to get it wrong over and over again.
I hope that the way I celebrated this year will teach me more about Christ as I journey through the next 12 months. I am looking forward - as well as back.
