Aspire not to have more but to be more

These words were said by Oscar Romero who was a Roman Catholic Archbishop who was assassinated for his beliefs. He was a strong advocate for social justice and peace.

We are about to enter the silly season - advent is upon us and Christmas is just around the corner. A time of indulgence and excess - a time to give loads of presents and eat loads of food and maybe, if we have time, to remember the little baby in Bethlehem.

I love Christmas and I really don't want to take any of the fun stuff away from it but the more Christmases I have the more I realise that the stuff is not what it's all about. Presents are brilliant and I really like getting them but  I'm seeing that it's the reason for the gifts that is important not the gifts themselves. 

Someone wants to give me a Christmas present - great but why do they want to? Because I mean something to them and they are thinking about me at this time.

I want to give my friend a gift for Christmas because I want them to know I'm thinking about them and I value their friendship. What the gift is isn't really that important (although I do try and give people something they would like) it's the fact that I'm thinking of them.

And that's what Christmas has always been about us knowing that we are being thought about. That is true of the first Christmas - God gives us Jesus as a present to let us know he is thinking about us and we do the same year after year.

This week we enter Advent - that time of waiting for the whole Christmas thing to start. If you are anything like me its a time for buying all those presents we mean to give and writing those cards you want to send. 

This year, as you do that, remember why you are buying gifts and writing cards and remembering all those people.

This Christmas aspire not to have more but to be more.