Soggy Summer, Sweet Tubs and Counting Down…to Christmas! 

When do you start getting ready for Christmas? Are you an ‘early bird’ or more of a last-minute person? Sammy explores why Christmas seems to come earlier every year and how we can help people navigate the countdown!
 

 
After a blazing hot June; July and August were a bit of a damp disappointment. The rain brought a chill to the air, news bulletins told us that shop sales were hit as people weren’t buying summer clothes, and so began a ‘drip-drip’ (of a non-rain variety) on social media of longing for woolly jumpers, warming stews and oh yes, photos of shops already selling Christmas things!
 
Now, confession time…I am a planner. I prefer to anticipate a deadline, than meet it in a mass of panic. I do start getting ready for Christmas early and yes, have been known to buy lots of presents in the summer sales (often starting in June!)
 
In my defence, I come from a family of four children where the lead up to Christmas often seemed stressful and last minute; many a year I helped my mum wrap presents on Christmas Eve. As a teacher, December was a write off with exam marking and reports, so the end of November became my deadline and when one of my children was due on Christmas Day this just cemented things! I then worked for a church where my December record for carol services and nativities was 21. So, I needed to begin my Christmas countdown and preparations early!

The thing is, for me to feel early, I need to start buying Christmas things before they are really in the shops. One of my ‘markers’ for Christmas is when the sweet tubs appear; the mass of purple, pink and blue that suddenly appear, stacked high in the entrance to every supermarkets, each with a competing special offer. I usually spot them around the beginning of September as the schools go back. Occasionally they might sneak into the end of August. So, imagine my surprise this year to see them in July! Even more surprising was going into a few big, well-known stores and seeing Christmas decorations. Granted, they were in a corner…but they were there. My countdown had begun, and I didn’t feel early!
 
Why do we want Christmas to come so soon? Why do we start counting down early? I wonder whether it’s because it’s the next big, exciting thing to look forward to once the thought of summer is over. The same is true in the new year; no sooner is Christmas over than the tv is awash with holiday adverts. These two ‘holiday’ seasons seem to punctuate the year.
 
Let’s face it, once the school summer holidays are over, September does come with that sense of a downward trajectory as we anticipate the shorter, darker days and winter weather. There’s a lot about the autumn that can feel ‘dark;’ the days drawing in, foggy mornings, Halloween, bonfires, it’s little wonder that Christmas becomes the sunshine in winter, albeit where the rays are from fairy lights rather than the big, yellow thing in the sky!
 
Recently, this downwards trajectory into autumn seems amplified as more of us worry about increases in the cost of living and the heating that was not needed in the summer (perhaps!) gets turned back on, raising bill anxiety. These are hard times and hard months for many people but without wishing to seem opportunistic there is a mission need here.
 
The Christmas lights on my estate seem to go up earlier in November every year, suggesting to me that people are looking for some light in the darkness, they’re looking for hope. It also suggests they are counting down the days to the Christmas holidays; a time when more of us are off work spending time with family or friends, eating special food, exchanging presents. It’s a time of year that is ‘other’ when we can escape daily life and routine for a few days.
 
This is why we’ve produced Countdown to Christmas Hope which takes people on a daily, interactive Advent journey. Through things to read, think about, make, do, watch, and listen to (via QR codes) people are invited to ask, ‘Why do I start counting down to Christmas early? Why does Christmas give me hope?’ This daily journey through Advent hopefully (no pun intended) leads people to a point where they can realise, ‘Ah that’s the light in the darkness and the hope of Christmas,’ as they are introduced to Jesus in an accessible and relevant way.
 
 

Countdown to Christmas Hope is great to give to non-Christian friends you are already having conversations with who are already asking questions about faith. It’s linked to a Facebook group where people can post responses to some of the questions, craft and other challenges; and it signposts people to their local church. Countdown to Christmas Hope is a ‘hand to hand’ resource and it’s great value too at only 50p per copy plus p&p. https://www.hopetogether.org.uk/Shop/Products/501761/Product/Books/Countdown_to_Christmas.aspx
 
We’d love to see it get into as many hands as possible so if you want to order in bulk, talk to us and we’ll see what we can do!
 

 Of course, our relationships with non-Christians don’t start at the hand-to-hand level and so you might want an even lower step…perhaps, door-to-door or letterbox to letterbox. Our Hope Christmas magazine will be available to order from mid-October and with its celebrity features and topical articles that gently point people to faith is ideal to put through a letterbox or even leave in a café or bus stop! This year we have a feature on JB Gill from the boyband JLS (currently on a new UK tour). He also hosts Songs of Praise and the CBeebies programme ‘On the Farm’. Alongside JB Gill, we have a feature on Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh (Lady Banbury) and how her faith influences her acting roles. With other articles on Disney, Warm Spaces, and football there’s something for everyone, and all for 20p per copy from the Hope shop! www.hopetogether.org.uk/shop

  
And as the thing that often comes through doors at Christmas is cards, this year we have designed a Hope card to send to neighbours and friends, to point them to the light in the darkness. Using an image from the artist Sara Sherwood  https://www.sarasherwood.co.uk called ‘Trust, Follow the Star,’ it invites people to follow the star in the Christmas story and journey with the wise men to find the light of the world and light in our darkness. Available now at £4.00 for 10 cards (with discounts for higher volumes) these are a great way to reach every home this Christmas with a message of light and hope. https://www.hopetogether.org.uk/Shop/Products/502385/Product/Cards/Christmas_Card_Packs.aspx


Christians and churches are invited this year to ‘shine your light’ as part of a cross denomination and organisation Christmas community outreach during the weekend of the 16th and 17th December. Once you’ve done ‘door to door’ with magazines and cards and ‘hand to hand’ with Countdown to Christmas Hope perhaps there’s a local community Christmas event you can invite people to? www.shineyourlight.org.uk