“Ooh, it’s 3^rd of December. Have you been good? What do you want for Christmas?”

“We don’t want any presents,” I replied.

“I know what you mean. I say socks. You can’t go wrong with socks!”

This was how I was greeted when I saw the ophthalmology assistant at Loughborough Hospital before Christmas. I didn’t tell him I’ve got enough socks to last for the rest of my life because I wear them until both socks in the pair have big holes and can’t even be darned! And anyway, I wasn’t actually sure whether I had been good enough to deserve – or need – anything more on top of the riches I have already been given in so many ways throughout my 80 years of life! Yes, I was 80 in November.

All the hype is what we dread about Christmas in the UK – the advertising and excesses, the expense of buying so many gifts beyond anything that people actually need or even want, an excess of food and drink, money spent on decorations in towns, shops and homes (not to mention the extra emissions). It feels obscene when so many people (even in the UK) are living in appalling conditions, dependant on free food or, even worse, homeless and living in the streets even when there is heavy rain, snow and ice, sleeping as best they can in shop doorways or under bridges. ‘Our’ church once again opened its doors to a dazzling “Christmas Tree Festival” and was filled with the warm, sparkling, glowing, glitziness of Christmas. Of course, it was to raise money (although not for those in need – it was for repairing the roof).

What is it that millions around the world are celebrating at Christmas anyway? Here in the UK, it feels as though we’re celebrating wealth, greed, power, good luck, the barriers which keep us safe and secure….. Is the “Reason for the season” completely misunderstood? Or is it too uncomfortable, challenging or counter-cultural for us to take seriously?

I don’t believe that God is in control, as so many Christians do (I also wrote about this in 2020 during the Covid 19 pandemic). Humankind has been given the responsibility. God gave up control over creation when God created humankind in the image of God. This included giving us free will – the ability and freedom to choose. God isn’t responsible for all the suffering. The story of the birth and life of Jesus shows us that God continues to be vulnerable and wounded, giving up power to remain powerless in the hands of humanity, and grieving alongside those who are suffering.

So how, then, is it appropriate to celebrate Christmas? Since I can’t claim to have found the answer, I remain very uncomfortable at this time of year, aware of so much suffering, hatred, greed, despair and hopelessness. We haven’t put up Christmas decorations for years but having read this quotation on Facebook, this year we lit candles to help express our longings, our prayers and our actions in and for the world.

We are now well into 2025 and have almost a year before the next Christmas. Will there be any positive changes before then? I pray that those of us around the world who are blessed with any degree of power or wealth, intellectual or practical gifts, insights or longings, will use them to influence and achieve positive changes in our lives and in the world.  We know we cannot go on much longer living like this: allowing climate change to wreak havoc in the world; fuelling conflicts; accepting gross injustices and contributing to inequalities.

God has shown us in so many ways, not least at Christmas time, “what is good, and that what the LORD requires of us is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8) 

May each of us find ways this year of “living more simply that others may simply live“.