Christmas and Children

 

 

‘Children of light don't be afraid
Children of light haven't you heard
Gone are the days in black and white
Children of light don't be afraid’

 

For ‘Children of Light’ by Yes, from the album Keys to Ascension 2 (1997)

 

 

You know the saying, oft-related (in my opinion, too oft-repeated!) ‘Christmas is all about the children’ (or something similar).

 

Well, I don’t think I agree.

 

Christmas is for all of us. The fun and the festivities, the presents and the parties, the gifts and the greetings… these are not simply for children. These are for us all to enjoy. And I do!

 

And more than these external trappings of Christmas, the deep meaning of Christmas is not just for children, but for us all. While the way in which we have traditionally presented the accounts told in the Gospels tend towards the sweet and sentimental, and seem (or have been made) suited to youngsters, the real story in the Bible is tough and terrifying, sometimes gritty and certainly gruesome, when it comes to the slaughter of the innocents, leading to the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt as refugees.

 

This is not obviously kid’s stuff!

 

So, no, Christmas is not all about the children!

 

And yet…

 

… my anticipation of Christmas this year is very much heightened by the fact that our three grand-children will be with us on Christmas Day! So, could it be that it is in fact all about the children?

 

Well, perhaps…

 

…or maybe not so much.

 

What I mean is that of course there is a special joy of entering into the excitement of youngsters around us at this time of year. There is something special about experiencing it all through the eyes of a child.

 

No, it is not all about the children. But there is something special about Christmas Day in the company of children. Somehow celebrating Christmas in the company of children, brings colour to it all.

 

But we cannot really enter into that fun and excitement unless we can own and embrace our own inner child. We cannot see it all through the eyes of a child if we are blind to our own essential childlikeness.

 

Yes, it is about entering into childlikeness, of becoming children again. So, in fact, I suppose it is all about children, as long as we recognise that we are included in that description if we are able to ourselves become like little children.

 

And that is also essential to true faith as Jesus described it. He said, ‘Unless you become like a little child, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven’.

 

So, I suppose that, yes, it is all about children, because we are all called to childlikeness. And not just with regard to Christmas… the journey of faith is all about children; we who walk in Christ’s way, are all children of God, for we cannot walk in this way and enter God’s kingdom unless we become like children.