Article in Stretton Focus, December 2011
. . . . . . and when it comes, it always brings the usual headaches. What do you buy for people who already have more than enough? Will it be turkey again or shall we have roast beef, or even go vegetarian? Shall I actually read all those family newsletters, or just do what I normally do with them? Did I eat and drink too much last year? I probably did so I must be more careful this year. And is it time to admit to the children what they probably already know – that there is no Father Christmas?
And what about the Christmas story itself? Is it not time to admit what most of us already know, that the Christmas story is just that – a story? The details of the story, about angel visitations, virgin birth in a cattle stall, wise men bearing gifts, slaughter of innocents and flight to Egypt are not to be taken literally.
They are like the wrapping paper of a Christmas present. The present itself is the ‘meaning’ of the story, which people have to work out for themselves. This will need to be done in the light of today’s knowledge about the world and the universe we live in and how we understand our own place in it.
But with a bit of imagination, we can enter into the meaning of this story about the birth of Jesus. We can regard ourselves as being of divine origin, “…trailing clouds of glory do we come, from God who is our home” (William Wordsworth), and we can respond to the challenge of Jesus’ life and teaching, by living up to our own birthright, as He did.
Donald Horsfield