Blue Christmas

Hi folks, i hope you are doing ok, and that the Christmas season isn’t keeping you from some space for reflection and peace. This week we are meeting at the Kittiwake from 8.00pm if you are free and want to join us.  

I’ve been in Newcastle a fair bit over the last few weeks, and it’s been interesting to note a few things… The Christmas markets are up and people are swarming around them, most people are just browsing, but some folks are buying bits and pieces. Interspersed with this is the families that are waiting in line to see Fenwicks’ window, then you have other shops with their Christmas display windows and the numerous folks scurrying around… it’s getting busier by the day!  

And then if you look beyond the busyness and the lights and hustle and bustle scattered around the streets of the city and almost out of sight are the Big Issue sellers and those who have all kinds of mental health problems and various addictions blending into the paths and walls. 

I am also aware of people who are waiting for scans and test results, and those who have lost loved ones this year, or those whoes loss was some time ago, but yet remains raw. I’m also reminded that the social pressure to ‘have fun’ impacts on many people who face mental health problems each day of the week, all year round and at this time of year, it can ramp up these anxieties tenfold!

This year we are thinking in some of the work I do about ‘Blue Christmas’ – this reminds us that for some Christmas is a dark and difficult time. I write this post not to be a downer on Christmas, but to point to the reality of our world and to encourage us to be kind to one another… we don’t really know what people are really feeling. 

I’m reminded of the Christian message of Christmas, that God is with us… in it all… even when we don’t feel it or know it… ‘Immanuel God with us’… let us try to recognise ‘God with us’ as we go about our planning, and as we meet the stranger and the friend. 

 Some questions to think about –

 Favourite Christmas film?

 What does Christmas feel like for you?

 If you could dream a new dream for Christmas what would it look like? 

 How can you recognise that ‘God is with you’ as you go about your preparations? 

Peace