Wednesday 24 December 2008

Christmas in Australia

I love the beauty of Christmas. It is a time when we express our gratitude for the wonderful gifts we have been given by decorating our homes, streets and shop windows with gold, silver and coloured light.

A few nights ago, my family drove around the neighbourhood and admired all the decorated houses, sharing which ones were our favourite, and predicting the winner of the Christmas light competition.

Last Sunday night, the sound of singing floated across the town from the local park, as a community gathered together to sing carols by candlelight.

And tomorrow, on Christmas day, we will take out our best food to share together; seafood, roast meat, pudding, salad, pavlova.

Christmas is celebrated with such a variety of wonderful tastes, sights, and sounds! If only, amongst the busyness of the season, we could come to value and nurture what is really important: faith, hope and love.