As light pierces darkness, Christmas brings new hope

Cartoon: Johannes Leak

Last year, in what turned out to be her last Christmas message, Queen Elizabeth II, grieving the loss of her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, identified with others missing loved ones in the season of celebration.

As always since her first Christmas message in 1957, the queen drew strength and hope from the festival’s origins. Millions of people, especially in Ukraine, will be struggling to do the same this year. Likewise the families of young police constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26. After being shot dead during what should have been a routine job at a remote Queensland property, they were farewelled a few days ago in a sea of tears amid an ocean of blue as police and their families turned out in their thousands to honour the constables’ service.

A time for generosity, togetherness and happiness, Christmas is also a mystery. Its symbols – lights, decorated trees, carols and gifts – are reminders of the transcendent goodness and love at its heart. In grand cathedrals and humble churches at midnight on Saturday and on Sunday morning, amid snow in some parts of the world and tropical heat in others, the Christian faithful will gather to celebrate the birth of a child in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago.

Based on the gospels, they believe that on that holy night God became man – immensity confined itself to a crib, immortality assumed the capacity to suffer and die 33 years later, and omnipotence abdicated to embrace the helplessness and fragility of a baby. However quiet many churches may be on other Sundays, apart from rapidly expanding Pentecostal and traditional Latin mass communities, Christmas and Easter services grow more crowded year by year, drawing not only believers but also sceptics, the curious and those drawn by the stirring music.

In the baby depicted in church cribs, says Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher, whose father Colin died last month, people encounter “the infinite Power who sustains the universe – in something small and helpless. The infinite Love who dreams us and our cosmos into being – unloved in his own creation”. A pregnant girl faces disgrace, a young couple are shunted by unsympathetic officials and shunned by unwelcoming innkeepers, Archbishop Fisher says in his Christmas message: “They must make do with a farmhouse and feeding trough for birthing suite and crib. Hotly pursued by a violent king, they flee as refugees to a foreign land. Coming to dwell with us, God didn’t have an easy ride, but he wanted to share all the up and downsides of a human life … With us, saving us, one of us: he was God in the thick of things, including the hard bits.”

The past year brought plenty of “hard bits”, especially for householders in flood-prone areas of NSW and for those whose soaring rents, mortgages, petrol bills and other living costs are a serious problem. Despite the darkness and difficulties, the desire to share the light of Christ is found in those who accompany people through flood and fire, feed the hungry, work to end racism and seek to build justice for the poor, Uniting Church president Sharon Hollis says in her Christmas message: “Jesus is born into a dangerous world, he lives in an occupied country, he eats with the outcast, grieves the death of a dear friend and dies a lonely death. And in all of this, the love of God triumphs.”

When money and time are tight, Australians eager to beat the shopping rush are increasingly taking advantage of the bargains on offer on Black Friday and Cyber Monday before the season starts. This is good for the economy and good for jobs. For those anxious that Christmas should not be overrun by commercialism, Giving Tuesday, the day after Cyber Monday, has emerged as a favourite time for supporting a variety of charities. From training guide dogs and helping fund cancer research to providing fresh water, school books or goats for families in developing nations and sponsorships for children lacking the basics in this country, Australians are four times more likely to dig deep at Christmas than at other times of the year. Feeding, housing and assisting displaced children and refugees in Ukraine and providing medical assistance is currently a major focus for Australian-based aid groups such as Red Cross, Caritas, CARE, UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision.

Perhaps this explains why Christmas has an “edgy” feel, Anglican Primate Geoffrey Smith, the Archbishop of Adelaide, says in his message: “It looks forward to the dethroning of the powers and systems behind war and suffering, discrimination and injustice, poverty and abuse.”

God comes to us at Christmas as a baby, Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge says in his message, “as and where we are, not in some ideal world”, to pierce the darkness. It’s a consoling thought for many. For those with time off, Christmas is also a precious chance, after the frenetic pace of the year, to unwind, take stock, reconnect with loved ones and, as the queen said a year ago, to reminisce even when “one familiar laugh is missing” and see anew the wonder of the season through the eyes of young children. Her son, King Charles, has big shoes to fill as he delivers his first Christmas message as sovereign on Sunday. Merry Christmas from The Weekend Australian.