AS A BISHOP, you would probably expect me to say, isn't it dreadful that Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier every year?
On one level we might get a bit irritated with Christmas trees on display in shops in August, or with Christmas music bellowing from shopping centres in September. I accept that.
But in many ways I rejoice, because it gives us the opportunity to tell the Christmas story. Christmas is worth celebrating, we want people to celebrate.
You might say Christmas is not commercial enough!
A few years ago, before I became a Bishop, I led a Mission service one summer. I used Christmas Carols.
The reason being, they were hymns that everyone knew and people could join in with the singing.
It is quite a shock to the system to find yourself singing 'Away in a Manger' and 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing', on a beautiful hot July evening!
But everyone knew the tunes and sang with gusto. The truth, of course, is that God becoming human celebrated on December 25, is as much a reality on July 25.
So, yes, Christmas is commercialised. It does start early. But the real question is, where is Christmas to be found in the rest of the year? The story of family life that is at the heart of the Christmas story is radically different from the version of the blissful family life we see in television ads.
Mary is a teenage mum who has become pregnant outside of marriage.
Her fiancé, after some hesitation, stands by her. About to give birth, they travel long distances to fulfil the tax regulations.
But when the time comes, there is nowhere for the baby to be born. Mary ends up giving birth in a cowshed. There is no midwife. No epidural. No comforts. No privilege. But a baby is born. Jesus, the God-baby whose life speaks of God's extraordinary love for humanity, is born into simplicity.
You could be mistaken for thinking that this story is just for Christmas. But the birth of Jesus and this whole narrative changes the whole way we look at life.
If God loves us and puts a price on each of our lives, perhaps we can learn to value each other a bit more, and put people before things.
One well-known Christmas song says: "I wish it could be Christmas every day."
I wouldn't go that far! While I love Christmas, I am not advocating that we get into huge levels of debt, or gorge ourselves in a continuous food fest.
But I aspire to the spirit of Christmas becoming a living reality so that the goodwill, co-operation with neighbours, concern for the poor, generosity of giving, and the meaning of Jesus' birth is something we experience every day. I wish this started a great deal earlier than December.
