Happy Christmas

Christmas Blog

Forgive me for taking so long to post this blog. I thought that I should post some blogs during while still in the UK to bring you up to date with happenings in Zambia. As we start Lent and I look out at the snow falling perhaps it is good to look back at Christmas.

I am getting into the Christmas spirit.

In previous years I have found it difficult to deal with Christmas in the UK, after spending time in Zambia. The true message of Christmas seems to have been lost to that promoted by Big Business which tells us we must buy lots of things that few people need or want, and that we should over indulge in food and drink to the extent that it often makes us ill.

Still there is hope!

I enjoy watching some of the films about Christmas that are available on TV. Most are sentimental and often very silly, but they have merit in the message that they give. A Christmas Carol is a favourite of mine and a couple of years back I re-read Dicken's novel to compare it with the modern film adaptations – which gave me the excuse to watch a number of versions.

The message is simple, it is the message of all the major world religions. That we should not be selfish, that we should reach out to the rest of humankind – especially the most vulnerable. In doing so, not only will their lives be enriched but so will ours.

Since I returned from Zambia a week doesn't go by without me talking to friends back there. In fact I often speak to several friends within a day. Jennipher continues to be in touch. She has had a difficult year with Mike taking ill and subsequently dying. Mike's brother has been in hospital since he was knocked down by a car a few days after the funeral. Jennipher has spent a lot of time helping to look after him at Monze and at Lusaka.

Many friends contact me and wish me a Happy Christmas. How can I go to the supermarket and buy vast amounts of food and drink with a clear conscience?

Christmas is a time for feasting – not fasting. This year the knowledge that some of my friends in Zambia are also able to enjoy a Christmas feast enables me to relish mine. It was good to be able to pre-empt their requests and to give some a little more than they would have dared ask for!

Happy Christmas

Chris