What do you want for Christmas?

What we really want for Christmas is a world where people unite to relieve human suffering. Where rude, loud, aggressive pronouncements are hushed. Where children can grow up safely, with enough to eat. Where fear is dissolved. Where generous ingenuity is put in the service of the community.  Where we can all stretch and breathe and live without taking another’s space. Where our world grows green again. All these deep needs feed into our daily and weekly prayers.

What many of us, though, will settle for - and be really grateful for -  will be a nice meal and a restful time, shared with those we love. 

But what if through all the noise, the clamour, the mourning and the drama there should appear a vital thread to give us hope? A human being like us, who had the confidence to declare himself ‘the way, the truth and the life’. Who filled the experience of those around him with a meaning which the years have not diminished. Who insists upon being with us and amongst us in astonishing ways. Whose voice resonates within us. Whose presence satisfies our deepest needs.

What if our difficult and often tragic world is still his world, claimed for a wider power and deeper love than we can yet imagine?

As we wait for the gifts of Christmastide,                                          

open our hearts to receive you                                                              

once again into our blessed but troubled lives.                                                 

So that together we may sing Creation’s hymn                                         

and enter into the newness of things                                              

with you as our guide, our saviour and our Lord.                          

Amen.