It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere I go.  Shops have had their festive decorations up for quite some time.  Every time you go into town you can see people carrying boxes, wrapping paper and all things to do with the Christmas season.  As far as I am concerned, the cards have been bought and written - well most of them anyway.  Some need to be posted early to go abroad, others to different parts of the UK and others I can deliver by hand locally.  Presents are either bought or ordered.  Some are already wrapped but still quite a lot to do.  Tomorrow (Sunday) is the first Sunday of Advent.  The last day of November is when I usually sort out the tree and decorations ready to be in place for the 1st of December.  So I guess you could say 'it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'.  Or is it?  At least it's like what we in the west have made it become.

It's actually nothing like the very first Christmas.  How different!  There was no tinsel or decorations, no turkey dinner with family, no relaxing and being entertained.  The King of Kings was not surrounded by servants or lived in a palace with all the comforts of the hierarchical, rich lifestyle of those in authority.  Paul in his letter to the Philippians describes it as God emptying himself into the physical, human presence of his son.  This emptying was expressed by being born illegitimately to a young teenager in a place that was kept for the animals.  No family or friends to visit and celebrate.  Instead he was visited by lowly workers doing the night shift and foreigners who probably didn't even speak the same language as Mary and Joesph.  The subsequent years of his infancy were spent as a refugee, an asylum seeker, an immigrant in a foreign land.  He knew from experience what it was like to be hungry and a stranger and to be fed and accepted and taken in.  He had lived life in the lowly margins of society.  He emptied himself until there was no more to give.  

Having said all that, I do love Christmas and I love to celebrate as we do now with decorations, great food and exchanging of presents with loved ones.  And I don't suggest for one minute that we should stop doing that.  Be happy, enjoy time with family and friends, taste the good food, relax and enjoy the break but spare a thought for those who maybe have to work over the holidays.  Be thankful for what we have but remember that there are some who don't have a place to stay or family to share Christmas dinner with.  Some people now, instead of sending and posting Christmas cards, are giving the money they would have spent on that to a charity in order to help feed the hungry or give a bed to the homeless.  I must admit that I haven't done that, (I like the idea of greeting friends with a card) but I admire those who do. 

An activity that many engage in over the months leading up to Christmas is the filling of a shoebox with goodies to send to a child in some far away place.  This week I read of a young Filipino girl who 14 years ago received a shoebox at Christmas sent from a young boy in America through the very well known Operation Christmas Child scheme.  She was so grateful for that gift that she later tried to contact the boy to thank him.  She was unsuccessful but later in life, she was able through the social media to make contact with him .  Their friendship grew until recently they got married and for wedding presents they requested that people donate shoeboxes for the charity to continue the work that had brought them together.  You can read the full story here.

I guess that to make it really look like Christmas, we should enjoy the festivities but also give something of ourselves, empty out a little of the much that we have in order to help others, a kind of antidote to the madness of Black Friday.  That is the real message of Christmas and what God meant Christmas to look like.  'Insomuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me.'  Emmanuel - God emptying himself into every walk of life for all people everywhere.  That really is something to celebrate!


   

Remembering - Then and Now

During these days of remembering, I have been doing just that.  I was born during WW 2 and so have limited actual memories of my own but it's strange how some things stick in your mind.  I have a vague recollection of having to leave the house and take cover in the shelter outside whenever the siren sounded because planes were flying overhead at night.  As a toddler, I wasn't aware of the real danger.  It was more of an adventure.  I remember the blackout blinds at the windows and when we had to put the lights on as little as possible.  I remember the gas lights on the walls of the living room that seemed to cast strange shadows everywhere.  There are other memories of gas masks and sirens.  Even after the war had ended, I would run into the house afraid whenever an aeroplane flew overhead.  Over time things change and we do forget about disturbed nights when you had to run for shelter.  Nowadays we tend to use excessive energy on lighting our homes (and our paths, driveways and gardens)   Aeroplanes overhead now signify holidays abroad and good times, certainly nothing to be afraid of.


My Dad was a miner and so his work was deemed necessary to the war effort so he didn't join others as a soldier.  Instead as well as his regular job as a miner, producing the necessary coal, he had to do some work as a civilian so he was enlisted in the Fire Brigade while one of his brothers had to work as a porter in the hospital.  Two jobs but paid for one, all to help the nation.  Nowadays people might have two jobs for purely selfish gain to supplement their income in order to acquire more stuff and have more exotic holidays.  Money was always a bit tight so Dad used to make our toys (in the little spare time he had)  We had a beautiful, big dolls' house, a rocking horse and scooters each, all made out of wood while Mam would make things to put into the dolls' house.  How things have changed over the years.  How many children (or parents for that matter) would be quite content with homemade toys?


I remember one day my mother heard through the grapevine that there were some bananas for sale at the greengrocers in the town.  So off she went with all the family's ration books to use our food coupons to buy some fruit.  We stood in the queue for about half and hour and  were rewarded with the opportunity of buying a pound (weight) of bananas.  You could only buy what your coupon allowance permitted.  What a difference now!  I can go to the local supermarket and buy how much I want of whatever fruit or vegetable I like from just about anywhere in the world whenever I want.  I don't need to queue for half an hour.  I just go around and help myself to what I want.  I can even get it delivered to my house.

My Mam, Dad, elder brother and sister (my younger sister was born almost at the end of the decade) and me all lived with my grandma in a large 3 storey house along with my great grandma, four generations all together.  Next door to us another family of a woman and her 3 children also lived with relatives.  Her husband and my uncle (my mother's brother) were away doing their bit for the country but I can remember clearly the day my uncle arrived back and I saw him for the first time.  Sadly the gentleman whose family lived next door didn't make it.  So while we were happy there was a poor widow with 3 young children facing the future without the man of the house.  One of my Dad's brothers had been a prisoner of the Japanese on the infamous Siam railway.  He also came home safely and went on to live well into his 90s.  It is not just the soldiers who suffer.  For every one who doesn't make it, there is a family who has to face the future without him/her.


Lest we forget.  Let's remember the struggles, the danger, the make-do-and-mend attitude, limited resources in many areas of life, the challenges faced on a daily basis by those on the front line and those who remained at home to keep things ticking over.  Thank God for those who survived.  Cherish what we have now, taking nothing for granted.  Everything has a price.  We live the way we do today because others paid a high price.  But if we don't remember and learn, if we go on fighting wars and killing each other, if we take all our affluence and abundance for granted without a second thought, then they gave their all for nothing.  They did what they did so that it wouldn't happen again.  They aren't here to struggle for us again.  It's up to us to honour their memory by living and striving for peace and to learn to share the one planet we have with tolerance.  One world, one humanity, one life.  Let's make it work LEST WE FORGET.
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Thoughts From Down Under

Earlier this week, my elder son Martin and his partner Lisa came to visit for a few days.  They have recently returned from 3 months travelling around Australia, from Melbourne up the east coast past Cairns and then across and down from Darwin through Alice Springs, Uluru (Ayers Rock) and back to Melbourne.  We were able to share in their adventure through their many photos and stories of their travels.  I found particularly interesting the stories of the aborigines and their beliefs.  They are an ancient race having lived on that land for over 40,000 years and so their stories of creation and other spiritual beliefs go back way beyond anything we as Christians may have.  We consider their stories to be just that - stories, myths and legends - not necessarily literally true but they cling on to their beliefs that have been handed down orally over thousands of years.  

A model of a coracle type of ark as on the ancient tablet

I also watched this week a programme about 'The Real Noah's Ark' where a professor and associates reconstructed a boat according to information on an ancient clay tablet.  It was a story of a flood with instructions on how to build a boat to save a man, his family and animals.  The instructions also interestingly said that the animals were to go in 'two by two'.  This particular tablet predated our biblical story of Noah by over 1000 years.  The boat to be built was actually round, more like a coracle than the ark we think of.  Archaeologists have discovered that in that region of the Tigris/Euphrates rivers there were many such great floods in ancient times and many would indeed make super-sized coracles to save their families and belongings.  It is thought that the Hebrew exile in Babylon was greatly influenced by such stories and maybe had some effect on stories that they also handed down to their descendants.  

Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a sacred Aboriginal site but so many
lack respect for the religious views and beliefs of others as
this notice and undeterred climbers show.

We look at other spiritual traditions and think of them as fables, myths and not fact while other religions often look at our holy book in the same way.  So it seems to beg the question -  how many of our Bible stories are just that, stories that have been told and handed down over generations in order to teach some spiritual truth.  Knowing how Jesus himself was a great story teller, it seems quite possible that much of holy writings, beliefs and spiritual stories (of many different religions) are just a way of trying to explain some truth that is often difficult to put into words but are not really to be taken literally.  (I can almost sense the fundamentalists putting their heads in their hands, gasping in horror and  declaring that I have surely 'lost my faith'!)  But why do we condescendingly smile at aboriginal stories and yet are offended if others do the same to us?  Who are we to go bulldozing our way in and telling someone whose tradition is over 40,000 years old that he is wrong and we are right?  The arrogance of such an empire spirit never ceases to amaze me.

The first plane that started the Flying Doctor Service

Another interesting story that Martin and Lisa told was of Rev John Flynn.  He had been appointed to minister in the outback.  In 1912 he established the Australian Inland Mission in order to attend to the spiritual, medical and social needs of those living in the outback.  He built hospitals but is mostly remembered for implementing with a friend what has become known as The Flying Doctor Service.  His concern was that people were so isolated and his greatest desire was to help people to connect.with others.  Over the years he managed to get an aeroplane and a pilot but the problem was how people could access this service.  Another associate invented a pedal radio and so in 1929 people could call on the Flying Doctor Service.  Later transistor radios replaced the pedal kind and people were then able to contact their 'neighbours' many miles away and families were once again in touch with each other.  John Flynn was a Presbyterian minister but rather than trying to get people to travel in order to gather in one building to worship together, he saw their need and tried to meet that need right where they were.  He cared for aborigines as well as white settlers whether they accepted his Christian beliefs or not.  That is why he is remembered to this day.  That seems like a Jesus thing to do - not being consumed with the idea of getting people to meet on the Sabbath/Sunday in the synagogue/temple/church building but rather seeing a need and working to meet that need.

Mmm!  Thank you Australia for the lessons you share.  Much to ponder.    

Preparations

This past week I have started my preparations for Christmas.  First of all there are countless lists!  Lists of meals depending on who will be here and when and lists of ingredients for said meals.  As I have the luxury and time to shop around, I have different lists for each shop I go to - the cheap shop, the freezer shop, the supermarket, the family butcher, lists of extras, just in case, the shop that has that special something I can't get anywhere else... ...   I keep adding to the lists as I remember things I need to get.  That's my own coping mechanism - I'd be lost without my lists!  Then of course there are the to do list, the wish lists, both given to family and received from family so that we all get more or less the things that we really want, hopefully avoiding recycling of presents or putting them in a drawer to be forgotten.

Apart from the shopping for food and presents there are of course other preparations.  The Christmas tree and decorations are down from the loft, thanks to my son, and are ready for tomorrow the 1st of December.  The usual ornaments have been put away to make room for the Christmas ones.  Christmas cards and newsletter have been written and ready to post.  Some for abroad were posted earlier this week.  And of course there is the list of people I send cards to each year so I don't forget anyone.  Some meals I like to prepare from fresh ingredients and freeze ahead of time ready just to take out and defrost when needed so the freezer is gradually being stocked up.  I am also pleased that I live in the northern hemisphere where there is less to do in the garden at this time of year so I can set my attention to other things while still enjoying the blooms on my Christmas Cactus.  It seems that even the house plants are preparing for Christmas.  People who are involved in a play or pantomime, carol service or concert have already been preparing and practicing for some weeks even months ready for the big day when they do it for the public. 

 Of course Christmas is not just about eating, a day off work and receiving presents.  That happens to be the way that we like to celebrate a special occasion.  Christians prepare for Christmas throughout the time of Advent.  The original Advent Calendar where we open the window each day to reveal an aspect of the Christmas story, was a good reminder of the other face of Christmas - the reason behind the celebration.  Nowadays a very popular Advent Calendar is the one where each day on opening the window you get some chocolate goodie.  Now I like the idea of having a little bit of chocolate each day but I have decided this year to make my own sort of Advent Calendar.  As I was reminded this week that our American friends celebrated Thanksgiving, I decided to make my own Advent Calendar of Thanksgiving.  It's a list really where each day I think of something for which I am particularly thankful. 

That just about sums up my preparations really - enjoy all the busyness, the little chocolate treats, the giving and receiving but be reminded of why I'm doing it all and be thankful to God.

What a harvest!

I have been inspired this week by two particular blogs.  The first by Sarah who writes about harvest; how she remembers celebrating the harvest festival in her post 'Harvest in a tin' and asks how can we relate to it today?  The second was by a lady called Jamie who considers how we often seem to be thinking that things will be 'Better when'.  We seem to pin our hopes in the future instead of enjoying the present.


It's true, as Sarah says, that most of us who live in towns don't really relate to harvest as being produce that we have nurtured from seed.  How many can truthfully say 'we plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land'?  I know my friends Jo and Ian in Latvia can but most of us reading this won't.  Many have moved away from the traditional celebration with fruit and vegetables displayed on a long table.  In modern times many congregations opt to bring tinned food for the celebration so that it can later be given to food banks and help the homeless and those who are unable to provide for their families.  Financially things are not as we would like and we need to count our pennies more than ever.  We no longer have the luxury of eating out occasionally but on the other hand we have never gone without a meal or needed help from a food bank, not like many others in the UK and in other parts of the world.  And so at this harvest time I thank God for His continual provision.

We are hearing much in the media these days about the National Health Service.  The great thing is that it is free at the point of need.  Ok, you may say that nothing is free; everything must be paid for at some point by someone.  It is true of course that all my working life, I like all other workers in Britain, have put my required share into the system each month.  While I worked I was fortunate in my health so didn't need to use the NHS as much as some people might - although I cannot say that I never went to the doctor's!  But now in my more senior years I do need regular medication to help me live with the physical failings that seem to be part of getting older - and as an OAP my prescriptions are free.  What I need is there when I need it without worrying about how much it's going to cost me.  What a blessing!

The other day while in the garden I saw a beautiful butterfly.  I love butterflies.  I think that most gardeners don't like what they have evolved from - caterpillars.  The caterpillars seem to love to eat everything that we want to eat.  But I'm reminded that the birds also love to eat the caterpillars and nurture their young on such treats.  So as I love butterflies and enjoy having the birds visit my garden, I guess I need to have the caterpillars - as long as they don't eat too much!  To get back to the butterfly I saw the other day - a rare sight now in October - it was just resting on the trunk of a tree, wings open, soaking in the benefits of the autumn sun.  (See photo) Such a sight is priceless.  I don't need a load of money in order to enjoy such a beautiful creature.  I stayed for a few minutes just watching it and realising how little time I just sit and enjoy the blessings of the moment, not worrying about the future or what if ... ... Soak up the pleasure of now!

So although harvest isn't maybe what it used to be, I have been considering all the blessings I do have. 
I am fortunate enough to have a pc and access to the internet in order to shop, browse, learn and communicate with friends and family. 
Harvest time/autumn is a wonderful time of the year bursting with incredible colours, especially in the trees as in this beautiful photo. 
I have two wonderful sons and a very inclusive extended family. 
I woke up this morning grateful that I have another day full of possibilities.  I take my tablets and carry on doing all the things I enjoy doing.  
Things may be better when ... ... as Jamie reminded me but right now I have much to thank God for.  I am taking great pleasure in the now moment - a bountiful harvest of countless blessings.