All I want for Christmas is...

Nowadays, what probably comes to mind for most people when they hear the words ‘All I want for Christmas is…’ will be Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit ‘All I want for Christmas is you’. (And now I’ll bet you are going to have that going around in your head all day!)

Those of us of a somewhat older generation are more likely to remember ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth’! And it is this second one that has been very much in my mind this last wee while. For I broke one of my front teeth in a DIY mishap and was very keen to get it fixed before Christmas. Not an easy ask with dentists restricted in what they can do at the moment and with appointments being somewhat less available. 

However, I am very pleased to say that yesterday I visited the dentist (or did the tooth fairy visit me??) and my broken front tooth has been repaired! I haven’t stopped smiling since (and smiling is something I have tried to avoid this last wee while… my family might say that smiling is something I have been avoiding for the last 64 years… but that’s another story!)

All of that has got me thinking about what we do really want for Christmas.

Most years I imagine that my fellow Ministers might say that what they most want is a rest! (This year it is not quite that simple.) I am very sure that this year a rest will be top of the list for many folks; teachers, retail workers (some at least), NHS frontline workers (if they can get a rest!), delivery drivers and so on.

As I write this it seems that we are still going to be allowed to have some limited family gathering at Christmas, although that seems to be subject to ongoing discussion and review. All I want for Christmas is the chance to be with some of my loved ones? Yes, I suppose that is what many of us will want for Christmas if it is possible.

However, given that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ what do we want for Christmas that honours and reflects that central focus of this celebration?

‘Peace on earth and goodwill to all’? Well, yes, most of us would want to echo the angels’ message in this wish.

But this morning as I write this, what I would really wish for is the space to ponder, reflect upon, explore and share something of the deep wonder and meaning of the Incarnation, of what it means that ‘the Word become flesh and dwelt among us’. In church at this time of year, we tell and re-tell the story and we read and re-read the birth narratives, but I fear we do not really dig deeper as often or as fully as we might. And then, before you know it, it is all over until next year…

Perhaps this year I will get more of an opportunity for pondering and wondering, exploring and sharing. I hope so.