It's Christmas time...

The title would suggest i am either going to spring into 'do they know it's Christmas' or i am at least just stating the time of year it is right now...

Either way Christmas is but 9 ish days away and my fake Christmas is just two days away, but this doesn't stop me thinking of other things...

At work we have a nativity on Sunday morning, which is always good to see the littles doing something cute- and we have a good habit of making sure we dont just repeat the year before of 'traditional' nativity scene setting which is great for all those involved and watching.

I am leading and doing the talky bit of the service and i guess this a kind of sneak preview of at least what i am thinking about saying.

But really i want to talk and am thinking about avoidance.

Christmas is a massive time of busyness, the time of year when you have to be with people when you want to be alone and when loneliness is at its most depressing...

 

The shopping

The food

The memories

The TV

The traditions

 

Christmas is action packed... but i wonder if we thing or reflect what is is all about, yes hopefully most people know at least it is in memory of the birth of Jesus... does this mean anything more?

For Christians and myself included it is a celebrated time to mark God's love, choosing to come into a world, to live in perfection to then lead to the events of Easter.

Americans have thanks giving day... and i cant help think that Christmas needs to learn from this. Christmas is a time to take stock and listen to what it means to be in relationship with God who created a whole plot line working out the best possible way to make it possible for that relationship to be rebuilt. And then from that listening to take action, to be truly thankful.

I am not sure what this looks like, and i know i like to personally wallow in my self pity, or selfness at times, but i guess i am asking what does it mean to be truly thankful and how do you show it?

In my head i remind myself of Grace, the undeserving gift, where there is nothing we can do to make up for the love given to us but to accept it... this is hard when you want control, when you want to feel you have earn it.

When we feel we have done enough to make ourselves worth loving, when really we are loved more than we know or than we are worth in human terms...

I am not sure quite where i am going now...

So i will stop...

Happy Christmas to all who read this and may 2009  be a year to remember for all its reasons

x

Listening to- Human by the Killers (and myself wishing i had ross noble tickets for may 14th :P )

Praying for- guidance with friends