'Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey!'

Now that I’ve got less busy with work in the run up to Christmas, I’ve been asking myself why it is that this season seems so important to us, why two thousand years on, we’re still celebrating something that seems to have very little to do with us today.

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In fact, many of us are obsessed with it. We can’t wait to bring out the lights, save up for treats, and yes, of course it is a great opportunity commercially, but is that what keeps it going? We love to listen to carols and Christmas songs, watch Christmas films. We keep writing more carols and songs about Christmas. Haven’t we got enough? Is that just nostalgia? I discovered yesterday that the beautiful carol ‘Bethlehem Down’ was composed by three English composers on a pub crawl!

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Is it just about Father Christmas and all he represents? Is that enough? What about all those Nativity plays we’ve been to over the years?? Even people of other faiths want to enjoy different parts of the celebration, having a Christmas tree for example. One of the conclusions I came to is that the original story is a powerful one, regardless of whether you are a person of faith or not.

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One aspect of it that has been resonating with me, especially with all the arguments raging about immigration, is Mary and Joseph having to escape persecution from Herod and fleeing to Egypt with the baby Jesus. Even Jesus was a refugee. And could they have gone there and lived there for two years without financial help in the form of the wise man’s gift of gold?

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The nativity story is certainly about giving gifts and generosity which we admire and seek to replicate in how we celebrate the season. In our family, when we open presents, we do them one at a time so that the giver and others can share in the pleasure that they hope the gift will bring to the recipient.

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What do you want to take from this Christmas season? In what way can you find yourself enriched by this powerful story? What will you allow others to give to you beyond all the presents? What do you want to give to them?

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Happy Christmas!

#christmas #giving #generosity #refugee #wellbeing