FEATURES
LIGHT N
before the end of October…
In fact it is sometimes difficult to see where the Halloween decorations stop and the Christmas tinsel begins. So, just in case you are confused – orange, purple, black, spiders and brooms are Halloween and red, green, gold, silver and artificial trees are Christmas.
This year I saw my first house decorated for Christmas on the 23rd of October. As far as I am concerned that is far too early to start Christmas. Traditionally houses were not decorated for Christmas until Christmas Eve. I usually wait until the Sunday before Christmas to put up my decorations and tree.
For Christians the days before Christmas are called Advent and are days of expectancy and preparation, not of food and presents, but of our lives and hearts for this greatest of all celebrations. Christmas is not about the baubles and lights. Nor is it anything to do with cards and presents. Christmas is about Christ.
In our streets, even over the Christmas holiday, there are houses that do not get
RAF Chaplains: Serving the RAF Community through Prayer, Presence and Proclamation
in the Darkness by Rev (Wg Cdr) Ian Ward, RAF College Chaplain
ow I know that this could be a subject that causes arguments, but when does Christmas really start? Most of us have noticed that the shelves of Christmas decorations and wrapping paper are in our supermarkets well
Christmas lights they sometimes sparkle and draw us closer and other times get swallowed by the darkness.
So when does Christmas start? Well, in many ways it started some 2000 years ago when God chose to push his way into a world which had chosen to turn its back on its creator. God sent Jesus behind the lines, to be Immanuel (God with us), a light that the darkness could never extinguish.
He became a teacher whose sayings are still quoted today and he introduced us to a God who is always searching for those who have lost their way. Even when he was brutally killed his followers discovered that for Jesus death was not the end. Many people have found down through the centuries that Jesus is still on the scene and that through him we can still connect to our creator. Christmas started with Jesus and it hasn’t finished yet.
decorated, trees without lights. Looking around us we see debt, famine, disease and violence both in distant countries and in our own towns. Yet at the same time we see acts of bravery, kindness, forgiveness and love. Sometimes these selfless acts are squashed by the cynicism of despair and sometimes they shine out as a beacon of hope that things can be different. Like
At home I enjoy the expectation of Advent. For me the Christmas season begins when I finally turn on the lights on the tree in my living room. But Christmas really starts for each one of us when we let God light up our lives with the light of Jesus.
Have a Happy Christmas.
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