Christmas or not, God is always there

Dec 23 2008 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

“I WISH it could be Christmas every day,” sing Wizzard.

Would we really want that? Would Christmas be special if we had it every day? Wouldn’t it become just like any other day with all its problems or even, sometimes, its sheer boredom? writes Rev David Firth of Perth Methodist Church.

Some people try to make every day Christmas Day by keeping their house permanently decorated with tinsel and flashing lights – sometimes to the annoyance of their neighbours.

For some people Christmas is a time that they dread. It brings back unhappy memories, or it means that they have to be with people whom they spend the rest of the year trying to avoid.

For other people this Christmas will be especially hard as they have to face redundancy or the loss of their home.

We need to keep Christmas as a special time because it reminds us – or should remind us – that God knows just how we feel. God is not “watching us from a distance”, as another song puts it.

He has come amongst us in Jesus to share our fun and anxiety, our hope and our fear.

God became a human being in Jesus and because of that we can know that he understands us, he forgives us and he wants to help us.

That is the true mystery of Christmas and that is what makes it really special. God is here and we can know him now as our friend.

So however we are feeling, and whatever is happening to us, we are not alone. In that sense everyday can indeed be Christmas Day and a time to be thankful.

May you all have a very blessed time this Christmas and always.