Bournagain

Sunday afternoons are always looked forward to in our family, as Sunday mornings are usually pretty intense. Heather has been doing a survey of the Middle Ages with the children, and since there is no shortage of castles around here we went to visit one this afternoon for a bit of a family outing. On a bleak winter’s day with not too many tourists around it would be a pretty spooky place. Built in the 12th century, it’s most famous occupant was Gilles de Rais, alias “Bluebeard”, friend of Joan of Arc, who had a successful career as Marshal of France, defending the land from those nasty English. Sadly his life ended in wierdness, with forays into the occult, alchemy and crime.

It was pretty hard to spot the ghosts this afternoon though. This month they have turned the place into a large Christmas market, with overpriced trinkets, candy floss, roast chestnuts and mulled wine - the usual Christmas market stuff. There were SO many people. Christmas is so bizarre isn’t it? I think it’s struck me more this year than ever before. What a huge amount of time, money and effort goes into preparing to celebrate, when nobody really knows what we’re celebrating. Not that there’s anything wrong with having a party from time to time, but it’s getting so over the top. In spite of all the hype it is one of the loneliest times of the year for a lot of people, the most stressful times, and the month where people are most likely to get into financial difficulty - all for the sake of something that is supposed to make us happy.

The need to celebrate is basic to humanity, and it is such a crushing realisation for many people that there really isn’t that much to celebrate. There is a reason though, that is so much deeper and wider and more interesting than just Christmas - it’s the mystery of Emmanuel, God with us - and not just on December 25th but 365 days a year. God WITH us - not some distant philosophy or outmoded morality, but the real thing!

Let’s celebrate this every day, December 25th included!