THIS IS a time of extremes. I'm not thinking about temperatures outside or in, but of levels of excitement and despair.
Whilst youngsters are getting as high as kites and frequenting parties at school and in the wider community and planning things such as their letter to Santa, where exactly they are going to hang their stockings and what to leave out for the reindeer, there are others who long with all their heart for the noise of children around them but who sit in a painful silence.
Whilst there are newly-weds nervously thinking about preparing food for both sets of parents for the first time, there are those who will eat alone as they always do, every Christmas.
Whilst some will have endless presents waiting to be opened under the tree, there will be trees with very little beneath them - especially in this time of recession.
Christmas is a wonderful time, but it can also be the cruellest of times. If, that is, as a society we continue to lay greatest store by the celebrations and leave aside what the story is actually all about.
I happen to think that it is the story that should come first because then it has something for everyone. If we can remember that it is God whose coming we celebrate in the birth of the child in the manger, then all of a sudden there is good news and hope for all.
Because then Christmas says to the ill and to the bereaved, not "this isn't for you....", instead it says to them and to all those who are struggling, as well as to the lonely, look, there is hope: hope that can get you through this day and that can take you on into a much brighter eternity.
If you are hurting then get into that stable. If you are living with disappointment or with fear: if you feel you are at the end of your tether, then line up with the shepherds and come, just as you are, to look into the crib and let your eyes meet the eyes of the baby who lies there.
If you feel bad because you cannot give your children the expensive gifts you would like to be able to pile on them, then make sure at least that they know the love that came down at Christmas and how amazing it is. Personalise it. Embody it. Give the family your presence this December, rather than presents. Play with them. Cook with them. Read to them. Talk to them - and listen. That could be the greatest gift you could ever give.
It's time to get back to the real message of Christmas so that everyone can benefit from it.
Whatever you do, be much blessed.
Susan Brown
