image credit: cobbybrook.co.uk
St. Nicolas church, Pevensey, Winter 2016
The important thing is what is in the parcel
You sometimes hear people talking rather sadly about how our society has lost sight of ‘the real meaning’ of Christmas. Maybe it has – but which particular meaning do you think they’ve got in mind?
Because there are just so many Christmases. There’s the Amazon-fuelled, shopping extravaganza one. The writing the cards one. The singing carols one. The wrapping the presents one. The decorating the tree one. The watching the Queen’s Speech one. The turkey and mince pies one. The Midnight Mass one. The office party one. The opening the presents one.
The over-excited children one. The nostalgic, memory-filled one. The Crib service one. The getting together with the family one. The baby in the manger one. The Santa Claus in his grotto one. The getting pie-eyed one. The Bing Crosby White Christmas one. And plenty more
To ask which is the real one – would be absurd. Just as to ask which one is yours – would be absurd. The real question is – how many of them are yours? We’ve all got different ones – but at the heart of every single one, is some sort of celebration.
It’s no coincidence that in the northern hemisphere, Christmas comes at the darkest time of the year. Because that’s when there’s the greatest need for something to try and combat the short days and long nights. People want variety and jolliness (not to mention a bit of silliness) in their lives – and Christmas provides all of that. Exactly how the stories of Santa and the baby Jesus fit together might be a bit of a puzzle for some adults – but children seem to cope, so maybe ask them!
Christmas can easily become sentimentalised, which means that it becomes unreal. But Mary, Joseph and Jesus were real people with real problems, including real fear of persecution and homelessness. The asylum-seekers in the news have the same problems, and the Christmas story reminds us of how we ought to respond to people in need.
It’s good that Christmas is about the best possible way into Christianity – because the same things are at the heart of both of them. To give to others, is a way of showing that they matter to us. And although this is true all year round, the reason Christmas feels so special, is that it’s only then we tend to allow ourselves to get carried away by it.
The result is an enormous explosion of love that we simply can’t keep to ourselves – and gives us a glimpse of what life might be like if we took other people seriously all the time. The Christmas stories try to put this into words, and they do it wonderfully. But the important thing is what’s in the parcel, rather than the sort of wrapping that’s used. So there’s no need to be at all bothered – if others use a different kind of paper.
A Very Happy Christmas to you all!
Father Tony Windross, the vicar of Pevensey
The work of Father Tony Windross as a writer and author is noteworthy. The Thoughtful Guide to Faith (2003), for example, received interesting reviews. John Shelby “Jack” Spong, a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church and a liberal Christian theologian, said this book will escape the walls of the church and be debated everywhere.
first published in the Pevensey Bay Journal
Christmas edition, 22 December 2018
in local newsagents, forty pence
