Advent

Well, it's now got 8 days into December and it has finally really dawned on me that this is advent... Apart from the wonderful home-made advent calendar that Nikki made for me last year and filled with interesting treats for me again this year, nothing has felt particularly festive so far. And then I started to think about Christmas food... I have actually offered to do Christmas lunch this year... Possibly a stupid thing to do - and as Christmas Eve is a Saturday this year, I'll probably be spending it getting food ready for the next day! But as I began to think about it, I started feeling a bit more festively-inclined...
And then there's Luke, who's really going to make our Christmas fantastic this year (and hopefully for many more years to come) - but its kind of re-set my mind to what advent is about. I haven't (for many and various reasons - mostly connected to lack of sleep and family illnesses) been able to get myself down to church since Luke was born 8 weeks ago. I have really missed being there, and have kept myself going using some of the various sites on the net dedicated to alternative worship and the like (if you want to know more, check out Jonny Baker's blog - not only is that a good place to start, there are more links than you can jingle bells at).
But Luke is a living example of what I love about Christmas. The stories, the biblical reasons we celebrate - and more than I think most people would admit in public... the sheer childlike joy I get when I give presents and see people enjoying themselves. The story of what happened on the first Christmas is so strong, so good, that it would not make a blind bit of difference if it were to turn out to be fiction - its still a great story, and sums up what the season has always meant to me - love, generosity, kindness. OK, so the way it gets told is often completely outdated and dull, but it still gets through, and I don't know a single person who doesn't know the tale - thats how good it is.

Luke also makes me remember that this is what Jesus was like in the stable - probably not quite as warm, but certainly loved and appreciated as best us humans can manage.

Christmas is for kids. And bigger kids, and even bigger adults. Christmas is about one kid. And that kid became an even bigger adult, and died for us. Christmas is the end of a year (almost), but the start of a fresh journey.