St. James the Less Church, Fradswell, Staffordshire.

At the moment, I am busy with my Christmas shopping.

I do enjoy it, but I always agonise over what to buy for people. It is so easy to get it wrong. I once confided to a friend that sadly, a mutual acquaintance always gave me scented candles, which I couldn’t use as they made me sneeze! She told me the same friend had complained to her that I often sent her flowers as a present, which she hated because her cats always destroyed them! Of course, we were both too polite to ever tell each other this!! Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without presents - but why ?

Many think that we give presents at Christmas because the three wise men brought presents to Jesus.

Others go back to the stories about the original Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) who filled the stocking of three poor girls with coins as an act of charity.

I would argue that it comes from something deeper than that, with in fact more in common with Santa than the three wise men.

As I write, we are in the season of Advent - traditionally these four Sundays before Christmas remind us of the four virtues of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Each week we light a candle and Love is the final candle because it is the most important virtue.

That comes from the bible -

“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. ( 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 13 )

In the King James version of the bible, this is translated as “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity”.

Most of us associate charity nowadays as giving money to a good cause.

Anyone who watched last month’s “Children in need” appeal on TV will know that this practice is still alive and thriving. But in the bible, the word “charity” is a translation of the Latin ‘caritas’ which means love.

Not romantic love. ‘Caritas’ is in fact a translation of the Greek word ‘Agape’ which is a Greek word for a very distinctive kind of love – sacrificial love, the love a mother might have for a child. The early church used this word to describe God’s love when he sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world, to sacrifice himself to save us from our sins, defeat death and give us all eternal life. THIS kind of LOVE is what lies at the heart of Christmas! The season is all about that wonderful kind of love - still with us - enfolding us today. This is what we should think about when we see that tiny vulnerable baby in the crib.

That love should be reflected in us, not only in our giving to our friends, but to giving in general, to our favourite charities and to our community.

On 25th December we celebrate that Love with joy, and with hope. This Christmas Love - God’s Love, gives us the best kind of peace in our lives - real Comfort and Joy.

With every blessing,

Vivienne.

St. James the Less Church, Fradswell, Staffordshire.

A Letter from Rev'd Vivienne.

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