Christmas is a great time for coming together – families, friends and communities – and there’s a good reason for that. It’s not just that coming together is more important than ever in a time of pandemic, when isolation and separation have hit us all hard. It’s also because Christmas celebrates the overcoming of the most fundamental separation of all – the sundering of heaven and earth; of God and humanity. Once God becomes one of us, heaven and earth come together forever – they become one flesh. The overcoming of that separation means that there is no separation that can’t be overcome; no chasm that can’t be bridged. In a world of ever deepening polarisations, such a vision isn’t an optional extra, its absolutely essential.
And so too is Christmas.
Christmas began long ago as a celebration of the triumph of light over darkness in the Northern world, but it’s become a celebration of the triumph of togetherness over separation in every part of the world, including ours; one which is celebrated in every community and in every heart.
A very happy Christmas to you all.