‘Keep Calm and Carry On,’ says the wartime slogan that was in fact never actually deployed during the Second World War. It did evoke that era’s spirit of quiet and determined defiance and oddly, at the turn of this century it became a popular slogan spawning innumerable versions for mugs, tea towels and even clothing.
If there is a version of this that describes many people’s run up to Christmas, then from observation it is Keep Calm and Hurry On, as people dash from work to present-buying, social events and more practically, food shopping or visiting food banks, filling the car or negotiating public transport. For some, engaging in or observing this activity seems satisfying at least superficially. For others it reveals the yawning emptiness or loneliness that so many feel at this time . There appears to be an unspoken contest to see who can remain calmest and least flustered while simultaneously dealing with multiple requests or facing the reality of a solitary Christmas.
That seems not to be the kind of expansive calm described in the carol Silent Night: ‘All is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and child.’ That calm seems to be full of stillness after the momentous events of childbirth as the new family ponder the future while simultaneously working out the present. For a time there are no choices and decisions to make: those are dictated by the needs of a newborn. When such a birth has been foretold for centuries, announced by angels and eagerly shared by awe-struck shepherds, there is not just calm but also bright hope.
This is the kind of hopeful, expectant calm that we too can access even in the midst of the frenzy. It’s possible to stop and ponder how we still are impacted by the arrival of a single child 2000 years ago among the estimated 100 billion people who have been born in the past twenty centuries - even if that impact is only that we run ourselves ragged without thinking why.
It doesn’t have to be like that: Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World was coming to us, born as a baby, bringing us good news of God. He sits quietly expectant for us behind the frenzy.
Seize the day – have your moments of calm preparation and come and celebrate with bright hope and unbridled joy in a church near you.
Find your local Christmas services at www.achurchnearyou.com