Lonely this Christmas

It's official, Britain is getting lonelier.

According to the anomie index (I know, its a terrible name) the loneliest place 30 years ago has a stronger sense of belonging than the closest place today. What this represents is a nationwide breaking down of communities that leaves us all feeling less involved, more isolated, and lonelier. The most vulnerable, of course, are the eldest amongst us but this loneliness is something that can be felt by people of any age, and especially at Christmas, as Kate Bosher writes, "Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for - I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times."

If Christmas is the worst time for feeling lonely, then it is also the best time for finding an antidote for our loneliness, for in the simplicity of the first Christmas we remember that God has an answer for our deepest need.

Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of the rock group Queen, once said, “You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man, and that is the most bitter type of loneliness. Success has brought me world idolisation and millions of pounds, but it’s prevented me from having the one thing we all need – a loving, ongoing relationship.” Now, Freddie Mercury was almost right but it’s not just any ongoing loving relationship that we need but a loving ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ, that’s what we were made for.

That’s why Christmas is such good news because Jesus enables us to know God. Christmas is the time when we remember that God did what we were unable to do. Because of our sin we were separated from God. Instead of knowing God we were strangers, even enemies of God. And there was no way for us back to God. So God came to us.

The birth of the baby Jesus in the manger in Bethlehem 2000 years ago was the first step in God breaking down the wall of sin that stands between us and God. Now, instead of being alienated from God, we can come to know him through Jesus. Because in sending his Son Jesus God managed to do two things at once - he dealt with sin and he brought us knowledge of God. That’s why Jesus was called Emmanuel - because he is God with us.

That’s the incredible thing about Christmas, it means that we don’t have to feel lonely and isolated from God, we can come to know him, because he came to us in Jesus Christ.

Mother Teresa really understood poverty and deprivation, yet she once said, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved." God's promise to each one of us at Christmas is that we don't have to face this world alone - God is with us, and he loves us. That's the gift that we celebrate on Christmas Day.

No Carols for Christmas!

The world is going mad - and I am close behind it.

It is being reported in the news that the choir of Arthur Bugler County Junior School were told that their pupils must not sing Christmas carols at Corringham Winter Festival because they did not "dovetail" with its theme.

The children, aged between seven and 11, had spent weeks rehearsing a concert of traditional Christmas songs to perform on the centre stage but just days before the festival teachers were told that the choir could not perform as the carols had a religious theme. The choir had sung carols at every previous festival but this year they were told it had to be no carols for Christmas! What utter, ridiculous madness!

Please don't get the wrong idea. I do not support forcing my beliefs on anyone, it's up to each individual to accept or reject Jesus, and they are free to celebrate Christmas or not. What I object to is keeping the trappings of Christmas while ignoring or rejecting the One Whose birthday it commemorates. As Tony Benson, chairman of the Festival committee, noted: "It is a fact of life that a lot of people have forgotten the meaning of Christmas." Well I say in response, there is no Christmas season without Christ.

I am all in favour of community events like winter, spring or summer festivals, but lets not confuse them with Christmas. Without Jesus, it isn't Christmas.

A Saviour has been born

Officially, I don't do politics but I had to laugh as I listened to PMQ's yesterday. I know it was just a slip of the tongue, but when Gordon Brown announced that he had "saved the world" it really did bring the whole political world into perspective.

To be honest my first thought was of Gordon Brown as some kind of political Angel of Mercy. These are the kind of sociopaths who cause a disaster or an accident so that they can fly to the rescue and save the day.

Don't get me wrong, I think politics is serious business - they make decisions that effect our daily lives - but they really do need to lighten up!

There is only one God in heaven, the one who "brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing" (Isaiah 40:23) and there is only one Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; but then, that's probably why I don't do politics.

Glue and glitter

I wonder what your first thought was when you noticed it was frosty outside?

I hope the pavements aren't too slippery? Will I have to de-ice the car?

I'm guessing that these, and other thoughts will have passed through our minds as we peered through the curtains at the frost laying on the grass, roads and pavement, but I wonder how many of us were excited to see it?

As we walked to School - well I walked and the girls skipped - as we walked to school this morning the girls explained to me that the frost is actually God playing with glue and glitter, and the reason it is slippery is because the glue hasn't dried yet! How wonderful to be able to see God's hand at work in the mundane, and how delightful to see in this work something of his playful and generous character!

Their enjoyment of the frost left me thinking, why can't I see the world like this?

Jesus said in Mark 10, "Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in" (The Message). He meant, of course, that sense of dependent faith that children embrace as part of being nurtured and growing up, but surely also it has to do with how we see God at work in his world? I know that my children think their Dad can do anything (they are only 6 and 4) and they marvel at the simplest things I do that they can't. Isn't this the simplicity of a child?

So, the next time you scrape the ice of your car in the morning, or tip-toe along the pavement, try to see it at God's glue and glitter, and marvel at the simplest things that God can do but we can't.

Ever Decreasing Circles

Why is it that the longer I live the less friends I have?

I am sure that some would say, "to know me is to know the answer", but seriously, why is it that the more people I meet the less friends I have? Take Christmas letters as an example. Every year we add new people to the list of those we write to at Christmas, and yet every year we send less and less Christmas Cards. Is there a worm or virus that eats friends from my address list, or is there another answer?

Sadly, the answer is that as we get older our lives move in ever decreasing circles. Yes, we do add new names to our Christmas list, but we also take of those we have lost touch with, those we haven't heard from in years, and those who left the sphere of earthly communication, and there comes a time when we stop adding new names to the list. Its almost as if we reach a saturation point for friends - we can have so many, but no more. So our world shrinks - just a little at first, but then year by year in ever decreasing circles.

The problem with this isn't the Christmas list, as nice as it is to keep in touch with friends near and far. The problem is what it means for our effectiveness in witness. As Michael Green, in his commentary on Acts, 30 Years that Changed the World, wrote “We need Christians who are fearless in making Jesus known, and extremely broad in their range of contacts” (2002:55).

I asked a group of lay-leaders recently how many non-church friends they had, and we discovered that the more committed you were in leadership, the less likely you were to have friends outside the church, and in particular, the less likely you were to make new friends outside the church. I am sure they are not alone in this. So, not only is it likely that our circle of friends will diminish over time, but it is increasingly likely to be filled with other Christians.

Who, then, will share their faith with those outside our ever decreasing circles?

The only way we can reverse this trend is by being intentional about making friends. That means going to new places, doing new things and spending time with new people. It really isn't as scarey at it sounds.