Tis the Season...
Last Christmas some friends hired the Church Hall for a Christmas party. There was of course a Santa and suddenly the Grinch entered and tried to steal Santa. The children fell about the Grinch until he ran away. The poor lad playing the Grinch was black and blue from the attentions of the enthusiastic children and it was great fun to watch.
I don't want to be the Grinch that stole Christmas but I do think that we should just take things down a bit over what the secularists call the Festive or Winter season. Hopefully you will have this edition of the Moravian Messenger on the first Sunday of Advent. And on that magic day, 1st December the radio stations will start playing Christmas songs and the Ballymena Christmas lights will have already been switched on for two weeks! The Tesco's and Marks and Spencer (other supermarkets are available) Christmas food magazines will also have been out for probably three weeks.
The build up to Christmas is so long and so pressurised that many families feel that Christmas is over on Boxing Day and the decorations come down. Many others are pressurised by the long build up to buy much more food than is needed and fridges get stuffed with food that will never be eaten. Those with children are put under tremendous pressure to buy more and more presents for their children and young people. And the cumulative effect is that much more money is spent than should have been and the ideal Christmas is never achieved.
None of these things are bad in themselves. Wanting light and colour in the darkness of the winter months is natural; delighting in good food and wanting to share meals is a Christian thing and giving is in the heart and nature of God. But the way that we go about things in December, in our consumer society is hardly Christian and reflective of our faith. It does not speak of the poverty of the Holy birth, the refugee status of the family and the worship of the shepherds.
So, what to do for us Christian folk who love to celebrate but are concerned about the pressures? Firstly, reflect on what would Jesus have you do in your own situation, which may be very different from mine. What values do you want to show and teach your children; how do you want to show compassion to your neighbours; what can you give to charity and which charities; how can you be responsible in your purchases. In short how can we be intentional about the practise of our faith in the midst of many different pressures.
So, you can plan what you are doing, where you are spending and what you are giving. Local businesses deserve all the support we can give them at all times of the year. Time spent with children is much more valuable than money spent on children. Visit family and friends particularly in the days after Christmas as it is a long stretch between Christmas and New Year. Make attending worship a priority not an option and invite folk around you to come with you!
I'm really not the Grinch, I just want a more realistic Christmas instead of consumerism and glossy advertising overtaking common sense. Let your Christian faith be your magnetic north and your compass to guide you this season. For Jesus is the reason for the season and he came for all of us, wealthy, poor, old and young, those set in families and for those alone.
Sr Sarah Groves
Editorial Team