Monthly Message (December 2007) - Christmas Paradox
Dear Friends,
I was recently asked .... What does ‘paradox’ mean?
It’s not an easy definition to pin down in words. Trying to describe a thing of which two or more apparently contradictory statements, descriptions or answers might be equally near the truth ... and where the essence of the truth actually needs to try to hold the two opposites in tension together.
The dictionary offers: Paradox - that which is contrary to received wisdom; that which is apparently absurd but is or may be really true;
- and so on. It seems I'm not the only one who finds this definition complicated!
However, it seemed to me that paradox is a good word to use when describing the Christian story of Christmas, our reflections and understandings of God being born among us on earth, and our celebrations of this most sacred feast in the 21st century world in which we live.
Christmas - is a very this worldly affair. Shopping, decorating, sparkle and noise, hustle and bustle. This year and last the news has told again and again stories of people losing their Christmas savings as a business collapsed. Sad for those people ... but the reporting has often bolstered the message that a good Christmas can be bought, happiness depends on having money to spend and a Christmas without presents is empty. But the story of Christmas is of an indescribably precious gift given in the poverty of an outbuilding to parents who were only just a couple, far from home, with nothing but their love to give the child. A gift that although far beyond our grasp, was the treasure of God giving himself to the human race in deep love, becoming like us and coming among us. It often seems that the presents etc. consume us, but, somewhere in the shopping and the wrapping, the gift giving and receiving Christmas, there is meant to be the memory and reflection of the great gift of God in Jesus .... It's a celebration that turns the spotlight on our human relationships too. Whether we remember the world and hear the painful lyrics about African poverty in words of the BandAid song that has joined the list of Christmas classics ... 'do they know its Christmas time at all? - the greatest gift they'll have this year is life.'... the spotlight on the wealth of the west and the poverty of so many of the world's population ... or we remember the homeless poor and refugee in our own society ..... or we recall that Christmas is a very difficult time for many people, can be stressful in families, fall of sharp focused memories and often poignant absences .....
But the Christmas we celebrate begins in a story of the simplest relationships being stretched thin by the shock of the unexpected, strained by suspicions and the fearful unknown, having to adapt to the demands of the world in which they lived and walk away from home and security, to find safety. It was smelly strangers, undesirable company, who first celebrated this birth ... and mysterious foreigners who didn't understand the culture and asked the wrong questions, next. And God was there, even in the hidden places of Bethlehem, becoming one of us in the struggle to be human in an uncertain world - and painful as it may be, the God who comes among us shines a light for us to look at how we live together, in our homes and in the world. In that light there is opportunity for renewal.
The paradox .... Is that to live and celebrate Christmas we need to bring the story of Jesus to our experience ... and our experience to the story of God born among us .... And firmly holding both we'll find ourselves nearer the truth.
Many we, and the world, find peace this Christmas .......
Yours,
Tracey.
Festive Green Ideas for the Christmas Season from the church Eco Group
Why?
- Ingredients for a typical Christmas dinner may have travelled 30,000 miles from source to us.
- There will be enough wrapping paper alone to gift wrap the whole island of Guernsey.
- It takes one tree to make about 3000 cards. Friends of the Earth note that in 2004 we sent around 744 million.
Christmas can still be fun - it's just a case of giving more thought to the resources we waste, the cash we spend, and the environmental impact of our celebrations.
- Support your local greengrocers where vegetables will probably have been grown locally. Buy root vegetables.
- Try to buy a free range turkey from a farm shop. It will taste much better.
- Buy loose rather than pre-packed vegetables and refuse the carrier, take your own.
- If you're having a party try to avoid using paper plates and cups, borrow extra crockery from neighbours.
- Buy Fair Trade products knowing your money will make a difference to marginalised farmers in the third world.
- Choose charity cards and wrapping paper which has some recycled paper content
- Take your cards to a collection point for recycling. Don't throw envelopes away. Re-use them. Some charities sell gummed labels to stick over addresses. Cut the stamps from envelopes and take to your nearest collection point.
- Why not send one card to everyone in an organisation and give the money saved to charity.
- Recycle your cards by cutting up to make gift tags for next year.
- Why not persuade colleagues in the office that buying presents can be stressful so collect money and buy a goat or a donkey from Oxfam and everyone can relax.
- Turn those Christmas lights off when you go out.
- Take your Christmas tree to be shredded. According to Defra of the 7.5 million trees grown only 1.2 million were recycled. The rest ended up in landfill.
- Friends of the Earth suggest giving experiences such as theatre tickets, memberships etc. as presents.
- Charity shops have great bargains in china, glass and jewellery.
- Give something you have made rather than bought. A cake, home grown hyacinth or lavender bags can be just the right gift for some.
- Think before you buy, is it really necessary when Christmas is just one day.
- Spend more time visiting family and friends and agree on children only presents. None of us in the West need so much.
Above all have a wonderful Christmas!
