In my head, sits a vision of Christmas; my house immaculate,the presents wrapped in varying papers each with their own colour theme and tasteful ribbons adorned with perhaps buttons or bells (which I have made especially for the season), the family laughing as we sit around the table which is straining under the weight of the perfect Christmas meal.
And then the bubble bursts….for as we know this is not how it is. And yet
if we are being honest, is there not still a tiny little part of us that tries to meet this vision, and don't we exhaust ourselves in the trying? At no other time of the year would I even consider trying to cook the perfect dinner,while stressing about table arrangements and creating an extravaganza of a wreath to brighten up my door.But I usually don't admit this until I am fighting with the family and generally so exhausted that if someone passed me a mince pie(albeit homemade)I would throw it back at them.
There is no such thing as the perfect Christmas whatever the TV campaigns tell us, our families may not see in the season in perfect harmony,we may not feel great,yet we seem to load such pressure on to strive for perfection.
Mary was a young teenager expecting a baby and I imagine the town was gossiping - did they really believe she had been visited by an angel? Her country was occupied by the Romans and she was forced to take a long journey late in her pregnancy, to meet the demands of a political system in which she had no voice. About to give birth she did not even have a home for her baby and had to place him in the animal’s feeding trough.
Christmas is not about perfection. It never was, it is actually more about imperfection, for it is in our imperfections that God meets with us,it is when we are most helpless that God can work best in us.He sent his son, not to a palace or a perfect life, but right to the heart of life’s messiness because he loves us just as we are.
Questions for Reflection
Q1. What one thing would you most like to leave off your Christmas to do list?
Q2. What is stopping you?
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