It’s likely that the global credit crunch will bite its hardest yet in the lead up to Christmas. Those who run shops and businesses that rely on Christmas trade to pay the bills must be very nervous as the countdown to the big day continues…
From the ordinary shopper’s perspective, difficult decisions have to be made. How can Christmas be paid for? Max out the credit card and worry about it next year? How will the children cope if it’s not as lavish as usual? How will we cope if we just can’t afford to make it feel Christmassy…?
The consumerist philosophy that you can buy everything you want and need, is going to serve people even less well this year than usual. But just maybe some good can come of this… Debt, domestic disharmony and over-consumption are not the reason for the season. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bah humbug to people’s festive fun… Perhaps the times in which we live offer an opportunity this Christmas for the valuing of things like simplicity, humility and the kind of spacious and generous sharing between people that isn’t laced with either the forced jollity of presenting the right appearance or the brandy in the Christmas pudding.
OK, for many people this is going to be a strain in itself because it offends their strongly held faith that the point of Christmas is to excess all areas. So, is it possible that through enforced restraint people can come through the misery of what they can’t have to a place of celebrating what they do have? It would be unrealistic to hope for this to happen naturally, so we should pray that this is the experience of many this Christmas.
It is only the living hope that flames into being within us through faith in Jesus that delivers lasting satisfaction and security when our immediate circumstances seem reduced and unpromising. As can be seen in places like Zimbabwe, when people have nothing else to lean on they turn to God.
As we’ll see from our readings in Isaiah this month, when we get a vision of God’s overarching purpose that has been unfolding through history – to glorify the Son and along with him those who give glory to the Son – fresh hope pours into our lives. We realise that we are not just here to eat and drink to keep the darkness at bay, but that the Lord is our everlasting light (see Isaiah 60:1–3). And enveloped in his light we can become a bright beacon of hope, drawing many to glorious illumination in relationship with Jesus.
To close the year for us, in keeping with the theme of this editorial, Jo Soper explores how we can best live with change. With the upheavals and uncertainties in our world, we may be subject to changes in our circumstances we did not seek. Our jobs may be ‘downsized’, our status reduced, our dreams cancelled, our priorities radically altered.
Though we may have to adjust to losses, change can offer us opportunities to get perspective on a period that we have lived through, to let go, even to give thanks for what is now in the past. If we entrust all our days to God, he will give us new dreams, fresh vision and great assurance that we are here on earth for his great purposes.
I do hope you have a happy and very blessed Christmas.
Phil Andrews
Editor