It’s the middle of November and this morning I walked
into a charity shop and heard the voice of Cliff Richard singing ‘O Little Town
of Bethlehem’! Now I’ve nothing at all
against Sir Cliff, indeed I own some of his albums on CD, but I really don’t
want to hear Christmas carols in the middle of November.
I walked on through the town and entered the local
shopping centre. Strung from the ceiling
were garlands of Christmas greenery with twinkling fairy lights embedded in
them. One local store already has its
shop Christmas tree up! It’s the middle
of November.
I may be a (new) Methodist minister but I’m also a typical
man. For me the
preparations for Christmas usually begin around 23rd December. That’s when I generally go out to buy cards and presents, write said cards in a blur of frenzied activity that ensures the handwriting in most of them is virtually illegible and wrestle with wrapping paper and selloptape to produce something that bears a passing resemblance to a wrapped present. No ribbon or bows of course; I never could see the point of either!
preparations for Christmas usually begin around 23rd December. That’s when I generally go out to buy cards and presents, write said cards in a blur of frenzied activity that ensures the handwriting in most of them is virtually illegible and wrestle with wrapping paper and selloptape to produce something that bears a passing resemblance to a wrapped present. No ribbon or bows of course; I never could see the point of either!
You can, perhaps, understand why I view the playing of
carols and erecting of Christmas trees in mid-November with some ire.
I have, however, discovered that as the full time
minister of four Methodist churches I don’t have the luxury of waiting until 23rd
December to sort out Christmas. In
October we had to decide what services we were holding over the Christmas
period in order to get them onto the preaching plan. Then there was a village Christmas card to
choose, Christmas posters for outside the church to select and planning
meetings for Christmas services to fit in the diary. I have been hearing the word ‘Christmas’ for
the best part of two months now.
In my best moments, even as a typical man, I understand
the need to prepare for Christmas: if the women in our lives left it as late as
men to plan Christmas then we’d probably all be eating beans on toast for Christmas
dinner….. though, come to think of it, that would be a lot healthier and a lot
less hassle.
In writing about preparing for Christmas I have, of
course, focussed mainly on the material things, the things that don’t
matter. There is a preparation that I do
every year in the run up to Christmas, in the season of Advent and that is to
do my best to prepare myself spiritually to celebrate the incarnation of
Almighty God into our world and to look forward to the promised return of
Jesus. Prayer, Bible study and worship
with a special focus on the coming and coming again of Jesus are the truly
important ways in which we can prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas.
For me the highlight of Christmas isn’t the presents, the
food and the drink, spending time with family or even the Doctor Who Christmas
Special; it’s the midnight communion service on Christmas Eve when we celebrate
with a solemn yet joyful memorial of his death and resurrection the birth of our
Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Although I am looking forward to Doctor Who as well…..
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