Christmas is a lot of different things to different people. For Christians as we know, it’s the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the moment when God became a human, and came to live among us.

Well, believe that or not, I want to reflect on the spirit of the Christmas season, and expand it beyond being a Christian believer or otherwise.

As a believer I embrace the idea that God came into the world, that God wanted us to have a sense of the Almighty not being a big, scary, vengeful God; no no, rather God as father, as one who loves us beyond all else, as one of us.

Expanding then, Christmas can also be thought of as a time to recall our true nature, to embrace our humanity, let peace and good will come to the fore.

I’m thinking of the soldiers in World War I, calling informal truce to come out of their trenches of war i to no-man’s land and greet one another, recall their common humanity.

Thinking of the millions of Ukrainians, without power, or running water, living in winter darkness largely, and freezing, cold temperatures, somehow maintaining their humanity, even as they are under siege…

Let this spirit of Christmas light the way, and find us giving a little more. Giving what we can to help, when we can, let the spirit move us so; and let it begin today and carry on throughout into the new year.

Let the spirit move you so, the spirit of Christmas.