when is it christmas 2014?

How do we know it’s Christmas?

One way might be the adverts on TV although that might mean Christmas now starts in October.  Or maybe it is certain adverts such as the Coca Cola one (it certainly makes me think of Christmas) or maybe the now celebrated John Lewis adverts.  This year of course it is all about Monty the Penguin and I’m certain there will be a few Penguin soft toys around after Christmas.

Many speculate as to why the John Lewis adverts work so well and one of the  main reasons put forward is that it has very little to do with what it is advertising but that it just catches people’s attention and gets them talking.  At the heart of the message though is this desire for companionship as the Monty the Penguin wishes he too could find ‘real love’. Yes, it is a little sentimental but it is a lovely advert!

The other way we might know it is Christmas is the introduction of the new Band Aid song to celebrate its 30th anniversary.  Clearly it will be no 1 this Christmas and will raise a significant amount towards helping people suffering from horrible effects of the Ebola virus.  Clear too is that it is not the greatest song ever written but it asks another important question, ‘Do they know it’s Christmas..

So when is it Christmas?

The answer possibly is that we need to be reminded that it is about being Christmas everyday (maybe the Wizzard song was an inspired one – or maybe not!).  Reminding ourselves that Christmas is about Christ with us and Christ with others.  Maybe too we truly know it is Christmas when others see and feel Christ in and through us.  The Band Aid song changed the famous lyric from ‘feed the world’ to ‘feel the world’ but maybe Jesus has always been about both and more.

What is Christmas to you?  And just as importantly how do you know it is Christmas?

---