Posted by Dave Morris on Dec 12, 2018

For many of us born in the Northern Hemisphere a summer Christmas takes a bit of getting use to. In the UK, where I come from, Christmas is usually a time of short days and cold temperatures being close to the mid-winter solstice.

 

The Christmas lights and festivities brighten up the days and nights and the thought of toboggining on cardboard boxes, or throwing snowballs are part of the enjoyment.  There is also something about the bare trees wrapped in hoar frost or the lakes frozen over that makes nature in this raw time appealing.  There is also something about walking though the commons with your breath forming clouds out of your mouth.

One of more endearing times for me at Christmas was the Christingle service at our local church where the children and parents would carry an orange with a lit candle in it as the only lights in the church and parade around the church singing Christmas carols.

 

The pictures are of Epsom in Surrey where we lived and always remind me of the carol by Christina Rosetti “In the Bleak mid-winter”.

A summer Christmas is in some ways a very different one where we think of a time of bar-bar-ques, beaches and long lazy summer days. 

But in some ways they are very similar.   Christmas is a time when we think of family and the enjoyment children bring to the day. It should also be a time of reflection; reflection of what Christmas really means and not the commercialism that we are fed by the media.  A time of reflection on those who are lonely or are struggling to feed their families.

I come back to the last verse of Christina Rosetti’s carol.  “What can I give him, poor as I am. If a were a shelter, I would give a lamb. If I were a rich man, I would play my part, Yet what can I give him, Give my heart.

Each of us can give our hearts at Christmas wherever we are and whatever the weather is.

Have a safe and Happy Christmas and a very Happy New Year.