Emmanuel

Got up on Christmas  Eve morning and checked my phone. 48 WhatsApp messages. What the hey? Did the only sensible thing and switched the phone off immediately. My plans are to do absolutely nothing useful for the next few days. Answering 48 messages is not on that list. Having made this momentous decision, I managed to have a pretty terrific day.

Mooching around King Street in Hammersmith, I came across a Peruvian trio playing pan pipes and singing. They were pretty good and truly, nothing says Christmas like Peruvian panpipes- in Hammersmith anyway. Then I went home and settled in to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I had boycotted the Star Wars films after the travesty of the frankly risible prequels. Six hours of my life that I’ll never get back. Harsh words were spoken at the time, some of them including “George Lucas, you talentless hack. There ought to be laws.” (please fill in your own 20 minute rant at this point). The Force Awakens was a revelation – who knew Star Wars could be so good when the script is not written by someone suffering from tone-deafness, and when the actors can actually act. It helped that I was eating KFC chicken washed down with a litre of Tango and a can of M&S Pina Colada in a tin. Pure class. A meal with no nutritional value whatsoever; it was utterly delicious. That’s twice in 6 months that the Colonel has overpowered my will. I may need to join a support group 🙂 Now I can’t wait to see The Last Jedi. It was nice to be proved right – the prequels showed that George Lucas shouldn’t both write and direct. Either one and we’re in business; both, and we get self-indulgent tripe. George, all is forgiven. Come to my arms, my Beamish Boy. Obviously, I now need my own light sabre IMMEDIATELY. In fact, I need two. What if one breaks? Thhrummmm.

After the film, I sort of fell into a grease-and sugar-induced coma but I woke up in time for the midnight Christmas Eve service. I love going to church at night – it’s so quiet, everyone else is asleep and I always feel faintly heroic, as if I’m holding up the pillars of Christianity all by myself. Well, just me and 2.7 billion others 🙂 Even as a kid, I loved a midnight service. I’m a natural owl rather than a lark, it makes perfect sense to me to go to church at 11pm. Besides, everyone there really wants to be there, or why would they bother? Christmas Eucharist at my old church, catching up with my beloved pals. What could be better? Best.Christmas.Eve.Ever.

One of my friends whom I hadn’t seen for a while said that I looked as though I was at peace. And I thought, “Yes, I do have peace.”  Not through my own endeavour though, it’s by divine grace. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about? “I bring you tidings of great joy.” “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favour rests!” Not the stuff you get from yoga or pilates or mindfulness. The Real Deal: peace despite your circumstances, not because of them. Emmanuel: God with us. More than being ‘good’, more than ‘sanctity’. A gift of love; “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Here endeth the lesson. So, if the turkey is undercooked, and the cat has eaten the pigs in blankets and been sick, and you hate your in-laws and they hate you back, fret not. I wish you peace, and rest, and contentment in all things. So, merry Christmas to you all, and happy birthday to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

PS: The gingerbread house was made by one of my colleagues Jasmine. She makes them for family and friends every year. It’s pretty good, isn’t it?