How we celebrate the Holy Season Of Christmas

There are so many emotions that surface at this time of the year. We are busier than normal with the planning of our Christmas season. The way we dress the house and gardens to celebrate with a Christmas tree, decorations, tinsel and many beautiful lights everywhere.

We give lots of time thinking about the presents we buy for each individual person.

I know that well as we are extremely lucky to have lots of Grandchildren ranging from four to 34 and some of them have a partner to count for a gift.

And so counting our four children and spouses we have twenty seven gifts to buy oh and a gift for each other too.

 
We save by for this but with the cost of living crisis hitting everybody, we have agreed on a much tighter budget than normal. And so we get by feeling just a wee bit annoyed, at the set up, the government, the world.

But with all of this in mind there’s a greater sense of an Attitude of Gratitude becoming evident in our daily lives here in Scotland.

We only have to take a look at the news on our tv every day and see there are people even in our towns who are homeless, sleeping in tents in the street. No food to eat never mind money to buy presents for anybody.

Some are being chased off their chosen pitch and even having their tents pulled up and taken away from them.

Dear Lord, this is heartbreaking to watch and although we are able to give some money to the organisations set up to help them, it doesn’t seem anywhere near enough.

And as the world watches at the ongoing war in Ukraine and more recent in Palestine and Israel And the tragic loss of many innocent lives and for what? It just doesn’t make sense and this can feel really overwhelming. Even when we are only watching, feeling so sad and helpless. There are no words sufficient to describe the horror and sadness there.

Even the place where our beautiful Lord Jesus was born is reduced to rubble and we struggle to see or feel the essence of Christmas.

And so this year, at this time with so much evil and terrible hurt seemingly almost everywhere we look; It might feel much more difficult to focus on the season of Christmas, but we need to remind ourselves that we have the birthday of the King to celebrate.

We have the hope he brought on the first Christmas Day over two thousand years ago and still brings to the world.

He is alive. He is still there,at the right hand of God the Father.

He is present to us all of the time. Our only need is to take time to listen like he asked us too. Even watch with him for an hour. We ask him for so many things. Yet he asks us for so little. Only time to spend with him. So we should sit a while and tune in to him. Do you know the way? Some scripture to ponder with. 

‘Be Still and know that I am God’

‘ I will never leave you’

‘ Ask and you will receive’

‘ Seek and you will find’

Find a quiet place, sit and allow yourself to breathe through your nose, quietly, slowly and repeat in your mind the line of scripture you find helpful.

We have Jesus the King of Kings, we have the creator of the world who waits there for us to approach him to listen to what he says to us. He is who we search for, he is who we need to make some sense of this world.

As St Augustine says

‘You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until we rest in you Lord’

How beautiful and comforting I find these wonderful powerful words for meditation. 

Wishing you all the Happiest Holiest and Blessed Christmas

with love from us here in Bonnie Scotland.