Who cares – some may ask? But for those who are mildly interested or better – here goes …

Despite being in the “ambivalent to Christmas” camp, I have still managed four blogs relating to the subject of Christmas, starting on the first day of Advent, leading up to Christmas Day.

In the light of my own greeting (see above) to encompass both Christian and non-Christian friends and, mindful of the Christmas truces that took place during the First World War, also happily including some of my ideological detractors, I came across a posting by a well-respected and very spiritual Christian pastor friend, who I am pretty sure is in the “not keen” camp, to be of interest: “As the world wishes each other Merry Christmas, including politicians, many of whom are socialists, atheists, or even Muslims, may we remind the world that the birth of Christ does not benefit anyone who rejects the gospel. God’s greatest ever gift to humanity is only of benefit to those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died for the sins of the whole world, and that He rose from the dead on the third day. Just like any gift, only those who receive it will benefit from it. The coming of Christ only benefits those who are born-again and have become children of God, through believing the gospel, true repentance (change of mind from unbelief to belief), and genuine faith in Christ”.

My point is not so much to argue with a friend, who made valid points, and who is a valued co-worker when it comes to proclaiming the Gospel – the one message that truly matters, especially refraining from doing so over the ether, but it is an example of how, even among earnest Christians, people see things differently when it comes to celebrating (or not) Christmas (it happens that, like my friend, I prefer the Jewish feasts that are described in Leviticus 23 over the Christian ones identified, for example, in the Anglican calendar). Unlike (probably) my friend, I can see the point of the latter, and can happily go with the flow with whatever group of Christians I happen to find myself in (see most having a valid point), while retaining my own spiritual integrity.  

Back in the day, I recollect one question often asked when people returned to work after the Christmas break was “did you have a nice Christmas?” If I were in that position now, I could truthfully respond – YES, both from a nice holiday break perspective and when it came to the true reason for the season. It happened that this Christmas we entertained three of our Indian family, our niece working in the UK as a nurse, her friend, and her friend’s husband, who we have known since he was a baby. Whilst not into some of the Christmas stuff when I was a youngster, such as exchanging presents, we did begin at our church and its Christmas Day service, which was uplifting. Then we stayed behind for Christmas lunch, which was of a traditional nature, and games, and included old people on their own and young children, a happy occasion for all.

Back home, after recovering, I introduced our guests to our Christmas big idea – a game of Monopoly – using the Essex version (I understand a Southend one is being planned), which we earlier had ordered off Amazon. My wife and guests had never played Monopoly before and I found myself teaching three Indian nurses the finer points of the game, which they managed to pick up well. We played two hours, only ending when player landed her token on Southend Pier (with a hotel) – the equivalent to Mayfair back in the day. The exorbitant rent asked was enough to bankrupt her, with myself and wife likely to follow soon afterward.    

After further pleasantries and eats, we ended the day similarly to how we begun it – a family prayer time, and looking forward to a good sleep and leisurely Boxing Day that would follow.