Christmastide nearly drives me out of my tree. I despise the commercialisation; those who celebrate what they do not believe and statements such as "Well, it's just for the kids really, innit?"
I hate Christmas TV, tatty gifts for the sake of it, the expense, the calories and sending cards to people you see every day [?].
I do not like the decorations, false bonhomie and above all, I detest Santa and all his ruddy elves! Rudolph and co would all look better as the contents of a good burger.
I do not like snowmen pictures, limiting the love of robins to a single season, sickly Dickensian scenes and pagan symbolism and piped Christmas songs in supermarkets designed to be over-honeyed and sentimental.
I do not like romanticised portrayals of the Nativity in a spotless, sanitised stable.
I try to ignore it all as best as I can.
Family gatherings have been good in the past and I trust our children discovered the true meaning of Christmas in their younger days.
Tonight, I look forward to the Carol Service at Rother Valley Church and only the Communion on Christmas Day itself has anything to offer.
Remember. The Lord of all Creation, God the Son, took on human flesh in order to be our example, teacher and eventually to die for us.
As a child I once won a cup in a public speaking competition entitled "Have we lost the spirit of Christmas?' - The answer then was 'yes' and we have deteriorated greatly from 40 years ago as a society.
