12 December
When we get up tomorrow we can say, ‘It’s Christmas next week!’ How are you planning to spend Christmas this year? With family or friends, or quietly on your own? There has been a great furore about it, with some implying that the world will come to an end if it isn’t exactly the same as last year, and others saying ‘when we’re so near to getting the vaccine, why take any chances?’ We often assume that the way we do things is exactly the same as they have always been done, that we faithfully follow traditions that go back centuries. Do we? How many of us remember when 25 December was an ordinary working day in Scotland? Take a few moments to reflect on celebrating Christmas at various stages of your life: has it always been exactly the same, or have there been changes? What do you miss from the past? What do you still do? (What are you glad that you don’t have to do?) The Christian message of Christmas remains the same, however we celebrate our midwinter feast
Lord, thank you for the Christian message of Christmas, for all our memories of past celebrations, and for those who are part of our celebrations now
