Christmas past & present

We seem set for another wet day. I’m telling myself we’re lucky really. For all the rain we’re having, we show no signs of flooding, unlike so many people.

As Christmas approaches I can’t help thinking the weather is going to disrupt many holiday plans. With roads flooded many people will not be able to travel to rejoin families in other parts. With houses flooded many people are going to be homeless, sharing community centres with strangers or camping out in rooms belonging to friends & family who have a little extra space. Trying to get their homes sorted out again & insurance claims will all have to wait until the holidays are over.

We’re lucky, too, in that we have plenty to eat & heating to keep us warm unlike so many in these days of austerity. How I hate that word! I find it horrific to see food banks & collection points appearing everywhere.

Yet, looking back, I suspect many will also remember this Christmas for some of the good things that came out of it. The Christmas we spent without electricity in sub-zero temperatures I find I recall with a certain fondness. It was a time we discovered who our true friends were. We went along to the pub to bump into our next door neighbours, who we rarely spoke to, there too trying to keep warm & ended up chatting to them.  We had friends who made room in their freezers for the contents of ours. Others brought hot water bottles, flasks of tea, toast for breakfast. By the time the power returned several days later, we had been lent a calor gas fire, calor gas lamps, a camping stove. We had our meals with friends or family at their place. Altogether it turned out to be a most social time, filled with love & the  thoughtfulness of others, a level of kindness we could never hope to re-pay, an opportunity to discover the best in people. I hope those suffering hard times will discover similar kindnesses & love, some from unexpected quarters. And, maybe, in some ways that is what Christmas is really about - a time of love & good will to all.