‘Why did the orange take the prune to the party…. because he couldn’t find a date.’
Did you guess it?
I am just back from a tinsel and turkey four-day break, hence the Christmas cracker joke.
Last Tuesday was Christmas day with turkey and Christmas pud.
There were alternatives.
And Wed was Boxing Day with all the trimmings.
We were wafted into a different time and could put all those worries behind us and dance the evenings away.
We also had a panto. Oh no you didn’t… Oh Yes, we did.
We even sang some Christmas carols. I was translated back to my childhood when all these activities were part and parcel of our Christmas.
It is not too long now to the real Christmas Day for 2022 and we will have another opportunity to celebrate the real star of Christmas: Jesus, born all those many years ago, born into poor family, a manger as his first resting place.
It was not a very auspicious start, but destined for a climax at his death that would rock the world, where peace in the heart can replace turmoil, where anxiety over where we are going as a country, as a world, as a family, or ourselves, can be given the new hope of an eternity with Jesus through faith
That is the real promise of Christmas.
May this joy of Christmas be yours and that of your families, both now and in the coming years.
Allen Cooper is a member of Norreys Church in Wokingham, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
