One of the delights of the last few weeks has been Friday evenings on the One Show on BBC1 when the show goes to a street in Leeds where the residents bring their garden chairs out onto the pavement and they chat about topical issues, I love it and it is well worth five minutes a week to watch it. The conversation last Friday was centered on Christmas and one couple who are Hindu, talked about Diwali being very different this year. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights and is normally celebrated by worship followed by fireworks, this year the family on the street in Leeds let a few fireworks off in their back garden, all their neighbours put lights in their windows to mark the occasion, and they commented on how lovely it had been to share something they had never done before.
Many years ago, there were two neighbours in houses facing each other on an estate not far from where we used to live in Bradford, the two neigbours appeared to be trying to out do each other with Chritmas lights and when our girls were little, it became a part of our Christmas tradition to drive round the estate and look at the houses. You could see the glow of the lights long before you reached the houses, which seemed to have more decorations each year. It has become a familiar sight now to see houses decked in abundant lights and maybe people are unwittingly making an overt statement about the Christmas message.
As Christians, we belive that at the first Christmas, the light of Christ came into a darkened world and for many, as we adapt to the tier system and more confusing legislation from the government, the world is feeling quite dark at the moment for a lot of people. Maybe like our Hindu friends we should be following the example of the Festival of Lights this Christmas, I am trying to encourage Churches and Christians in their own homes to celebrate the light of Christ coming into the world. We might well be restricted in what we can do this Christmas, but above all else, let us ensure that the light of Jesus Christ shines out into the world once again.