Random Christmas Ravings aka Miscellaneous Christmas Meditations

Christmas has come and gone again. Much of the world would say, Ho hum! But somehow this festival continues to involve us Aussies.: it's the time to catch up with family, it's the day before Boxing Day when the test cricket and Sydney-Hobart yatch race start, it's also the day before we all go to the coast for beach holidays, it's the let down after all that shopping and credit card excess, it's when we try to be nice to the rels, even when they give us stupid presents, and we kind of give at least token respect to Christianity, provided that it doesn't overshadow Santa or Shane Warne (you may have seen the poster that says, Would you worship Jesus if he scored 10,000 runs?)! Unfortunately it's also the day that family break-ups and other causes of loneliness come into stark relief. And this year it was the day of what some called a miraculous weather change that brought snow to places of raging bush fires.

So now for my experience of Christmas 2006:
For me it started with the Messiah, which I watched at Sydney Town Hall on Dec.17, sung by a huge amateur choir, 4 up and coming soloists from the Conservatorium, with the SBS youth orchestra and the mammoth pipe organ, in a very grand setting! The whole script is Bible: I spent part of the performance looking up the words in my Bible. It makes a very powerful theological statement. When we came to the Hallelujah Chorus (based on Revelation), as everyone stood up ( a great tradition from Victorian times), I felt like I was truly in a worship service! Might join the choir myself next year, you only have to go to 9 rehearsals, no audition and 2 performances, and they always need more tenors.
Just before Christmas we were joined in our "new" town house by 3 of our kids, Sarah, Mat and Ben (3 flights to meet, we are becoming regulars at Sydney airport and paying thro the nose for parking!). And we spent Christmas eve and morning at Nelson Bay with our 2 mothers. That family reunion stuff is very powerful. It's been great to catch up with the kids and soon we expect Mark as well. What a gift they have all been!
On Christmas eve, the 5 of us attended church at our church, Shirelive// in Sutherland. They nearly murdered some carols, but the message was good and during Silent Night (not my favourite carol) I pushed myself to think about it properly and the wonder of the Christmas event, God actually becoming a baby, amazed and thrilled me afresh. The next morning we attended Christmas communion at All Saints Anglican church at Nelson Bay, where I grew up. The minister there also spoke well, comparing the words of the angels in Luke 2 with the claims made about/by Augustus Caesar, a point I have become very aware of in my own studies.
At last the weather started to become "normal" yesterday and I have had 2 swims, at Bondi (yesterday) and Cronulla South today, we also drove around some other beaches south of Bondi that deserve a proper return visit!
On the way back from India I started reading Dostoyevsky's long novel "The Brothers Karamazov", which I bought in Chennai. Just finished today. It's very 19th century in terms of length and slow pace but includes a lot of discussion about God, morality, progress and other important themes. Perhaps an appropriate read for the season. Don't do it unless you have the patience but it was quite rewarding in spite of the non-ending.
Some people want to abolish Christmas, others are quick to condemn the excess (but I read an interesting article, I think in the "Australian", which defended the right to celebrate and reminded me of the OT festivals; I agree there is a time to celebrate even with some excess, provided that you know why you are doing it!). However, Christmas , despite all efforts to drown it out, continues to make a "silent" witness to Christ to our culture. May it continue and grow until most Aussies again know why!