Unity: Together, We Are Stronger As One

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everybody in the United States. It is approaching that time of year when tempers all across the Christian world are stretched to breaking point (and sometimes beyond) as parents search for presents for their young ones; as families uneasily come together; and as the financial cost of celebrating the birth of the Lord our saviour Jesus Christ is counted.

Within my own family, there has always been a sense that these were only minor problems. The respect and the love which we held for one another could overcome all these problems. It struck me as quite socialist that the only way we could find our way through these issues was if we all came together: the love form us all could be channeled in to everybody enjoying a pleasant Christmas.

But Christmas is cancelled this year.

Well, not quite cancelled -- just postponed until twelve months time. We are almost a month away now from December 25, and the materialism of the capitalist system is coming out in full force once more. Once more the shops are full of over-priced tack. Once more the consumers are conned by the retailers into spending money they do not have. And once more the true meaning of Christmas is submerged by a thick, black ocean of material well-being.

This year my family is unable to spend the usual unnecessary pounds on on having a materialistic Christmas. I, as a student, have an overdraft limit of £1,000 and, over a month before, I'm £980.00 O.D. with no job and thus no income (the things I do for my education!). So this year, we will not be purchasing lavish gifts for each other. We will not be splashing out on the tack.

But that's alright because we have each other. Everybody who matters to me is going to be at my house this December 25. Everybody I have the utmost respect for will be there, and those who think they now mean nothing to me are welcome to come and ask for repentance. My favourite biblical quote: If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says 'I repent', forgive him. [Luke 17:3,4] The same goes for sisters.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright