Priest's Letter

Ho Ho Ho…...

I was recently travelling back from a rather nice, if somewhat gravitationally-enhancing meal, when my nephew, from the backseat, piped up, "There's a Christmas tree up in that house already!". Naturally another passenger in the cabin added, "For heaven's sake it's not even the end of November yet…."

My embedded liturgical tyranny would go even further, left to its own devices: "Christmas Trees?!!!!? Decorations?!!!!? Before 24th December?!!!!!!!? HURRUMPH!!!!!! Completely destroys the meaning of Advent. Blah. Blah. Blah". Thus unleashed, the monster of my indignity would swallow whole any objections to this defence of the preservation of our well-fought liturgical seasonal battles. You can take away my incense but you'll never take away my advent candles!!!! CHAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGEEEE!!!!!!!!

It is at this moment I now have to say that living with my wife, enamoured as she is by all things festive, keeps the liturgical monster caged. Self-preservation does kick in at some point. However, what once might have served pure self-interest is now also a cause for reflection.

Perhaps mid-November is too soon for a Christmas tree. I think even most of us sigh when we see the decked halls of the consumerist temples in September - or is it August now?? However, I've stepped back from quietly ranting at the sight of decor going up in a household if any fully-fledged or nominally Christian house in early December (we must remember other faiths hold celebrations before Christmas). I think I've realised that my liturgical pedantry misses something vital that people need: joy, even just a glimpse of it.

And that is what those early decorations are a sign of for many: a bit of fun, hope, even joy.

This may be increasingly true in this current world. Laying aside the difficulties parents might have obtaining wished-for gifts for their peer-pressured kids, we are all too often surrounded by the dark forces that can lead us to despair and hopelessness. Ellie's letter last month exhorts us to contribute to the food bank throughout Advent. This is right and it is an act of Christian love. However, for many families using food banks in the first place there is a life of worry, frustration, perhaps despair, that is clouding what should be a time of celebration. Day by day we have stories that could have been authored by the Four Horsemen of Conquest, War, Famine and Death. We have our own personal tragedies perhaps, or at least worries and concerns. These are the realities of our daily lives and sometimes they can become overwhelming.

Anything, then, that might give a break from the day-on-day struggles and offer a sign of warmth and joy, perhaps even hope, I think now should be welcomed, liturgical purities notwithstanding. I wouldn't of course, think that all-year round Christmas decor is a good thing - that would just make the effort and hopefully some fun just become part of the background noise. Yet with nights drawing in and the realities of life impinging upon us, some degree of sparkle may be no bad thing.

Joy is important - and perhaps beyond the decor the greatest gift we Christians can offer is hope and joy. We are called 'The Easter People' but perhaps we should really focus on being 'The Christmas People'. The Eastern Orthodox tradition says that it isn't the cross that saves us but the very fact God sent forth his Word from the very beginning and we have met that Word of God in flesh and blood. That Word-in-flesh, Jesus of Nazareth, pointed people towards hope and eventual joy. Whether it was the individual and so-called small-level hope of healing that led to sins forgiven and jumping up from being curled up on a sick bed to the World-beater hope of challenging the powers that be over attitudes and behaviours that enslave a people materially and spiritually. His very presence was hope and his love was joy to the entrapped: the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

In baptism, we are Christ-ened, made part of the post-Resurrection Body of Christ. In who we are our task should be to be the means of joy and hope, the means by which Jesus walks and talks today. That doesn't start with Christmas, though we celebrate the reason for it. It comes before any department store starts its annual parade of commercialism. Each of us, Christ-ened as we are can offer than glimpse of hope and often joy by living out our commitment as Christians. For some it may be not simply giving but working in a food bank. For others it may be the listening ear to that cantankerous so-and-so whose bad mood is a mask for loss and grief. For others it may be helping find ways to tell and explain the story of Jesus. For some still it might be calling out the powers-that-be and standing alongside the most marginalised and vulnerable of society and holding governing forces to account. In whatever way the motivating and driving force is being part of the Body of Christ - and when our own lives are such that the darkness threatens to overwhelm us our brothers and sisters should be there to help shine that Light in our darkness too.

Christmas, in that way, can never come too early. Yes let's celebrate that purpose, meaning and action with trees and baubles and keep that sacred but let us be Joy to the World because we are indeed the Christmas people that makes Christmas come early for someone. Maybe even with just the only smile they see that day.

Peace and every blessing,
Chris