MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

Christmas as usual?!?

I think it is fair to say that this year has not gone as we had quite hoped it would. The coronavirus has continued to challenge and interrupt our lives, and while we can resume some activities, we are not back to how things were before, and we might never get back to business as usual.

When we celebrate Christmas, it is good to remember that the first Christmas was not at all usual. A heavily pregnant couple is on the road travelling to register themselves in Bethlehem, the hometown of the husband. A baby is born in a dirty stable because there was no room anywhere else for them to stay. Shepherds, who were not welcome anywhere, were the first to visit this special child. A new young family flees from a jealous mad king who tries to kill their baby and they become refugees. It might seem that none of this is how it was supposed to happen. A promised and special child born at what must seem like the wrong time and the wrong place. None of this was what his parents would have wanted or planned, it certainly wasn’t usual, but it is an extraordinary story that we celebrate and remember every year by keeping this special day.

This year most of us hope we can have Christmas as usual, others are hoping for better than previous years and for some who have lost loved ones this Christmas may be especially difficult. Christmas is a time of joy, not because everything is perfect and all is right with the world. It is a time of joy because it speaks to us of hope, of warmth and light and love. At the darkest point of the winter, we remember that God loved us so much that he was prepared to give up everything to come and be born among us. This is the story that tells us that we are deeply loved by a God who longs to bring us hope and joy. So, as we strive to celebrate Christmas as usual let’s not forget the joy and hope that Christmas is really all about. The hope of peace and the joy of knowing how much we are loved.

With warm greetings, Remco van den Heuvel (Minister at Wendover Free Church)