Rev’d Chloe Kingdon, our Curate writes:

It is upon us again, like an ever increasing drum roll, which starts in the shops and TV’s just after Harvest and finishes on the day before it truly begins.I must confess I buy in to the commercial side of Christmas a little bit having finished my Christmas shopping and got it all wrapped up. I let my children put up the decorations early in December, put the presents under the tree and then Advent for us is truly a time of waiting. We soak up the atmosphere at the Christmas fairs, and tour the National Trust houses to see the decorations. On Christmas Eve, we follow Father Christmas around the world via Norad’s Santa Tracker. If you haven’t discovered it, then look up www.northpole.com because it is heaps of fun, and Christmas day itself, is a wonderful family time.

Christmas is a great opportunity to celebrate our families and friends, but at its true heart is the greatest gift of life; the gift of God to each one of us. By this knowledge, we celebrate being individually crafted humans, capable of deep relationships, each one of us loved by God, and each one of us with an open invitation to return that love.

Christmas is a great time to discover God, as he comes to us as a tiny baby, dependent on his parents and with needs just like any other, but that baby was sent by God to remind us of his presence, he is with us every moment of our lives if we want him to be. We don’t need tinsel, or Father Christmas to put Christ back into our Christmas, all we need is to find time quietly to go to the door and open it.

A Child’s Christmas PrayerDear God: May our Christmas be your Christmas.Let us Give and receive gifts with love.lest us feast on friendship and forgiveness.Let us decorate not just with tinselbut with the light that shines from heaven.