IN OUR lifetime it is true to say that 2020 has been a year like no other that we have known, and as we approach the Christmas season, I am sure we are all wondering what kind of Christmas we will have in the light of the ups and downs of the pandemic.

With people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds being susceptible to the COVID-19 virus, we will need to be especially careful and seriously
think about how we celebrate this Christmas.

I recently shared with some school children in my diocese in Canterbury that as a child, I have no recollection of ever receiving a gift at Christmas.

I do have wonderful memories however of great Christmas celebrations… the trip to the Charles Gordon market in Montego Bay where we went from stall to stall to make sure we were getting the best sorrel and sitting back at home under the tree in the shade, picking the petals while the adults did more important things such as the cake being baked in the makeshift oven (a kerosene tin surrounded by coal), iced and covered with the little shiny
decorations.

There was pot roast beef, well seasoned, curried goat, escovitch fish, rice and gungo peas (as children it was our role to ‘shell’ the peas, too). The gramophone worked hard during that time with everyone wanting to select their favourite piece of music.

Aunties and uncles you had not seen for a long time would be sure to put in an appearance. There was much joy all round and attending an early morning service of worship was very much part of the specialness of Christmas Day.

Memories

I have lived on those memories since being away from Jamaica!

This year, we must prepare ourselves for the possibility of not being able to gather with extended family and friends due to COVID-19.

We must exercise the kind of self-constraint necessary to ensure that our elders, who are more vulnerable, are not exposed to the virus which could have deadly consequence.

A vaccine rollout appears to be around the corner. We must exercise patience and wait. Missing our loved ones at this time of the year, does not mean that Christmas is being cancelled.

Instead, it means that we are being responsible and making sure that as a community we stay safe.

Our churches are open for private prayer but at present there is no public worship, so gathering and singing carols may not happen.

We may also not have the gathered festivity of previous years with family and friends.

COVID-19 has changed our lives in many ways. The one certainty however at this time, is that the gift of “comfort and joy” can still be ours. After all Christmas is about the gift of love.

So may the joy of the angels, the surprise of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Mary and Joseph, and the peace of the Christ child, be yours this Christmas.