Happy Christmas! 🎄🙂

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

This year my older brother and family made it for Christmas! (see Advent posts from 2020). On their first full day in Sydney, my nieces were baking with Nana (aka my mum) and produced some very festive biscuits.

Well done to them.

Although one of my nieces, after seeing how much the angel grew in the oven, declared them ‘fat angels’. This somewhat takes away from the spiritual atmosphere angels should imbue. She did have a point, though.

Yet, perhaps it doesn’t take away from the spiritual atmosphere. Perhaps it makes us reflect even more on what angels were actually like when they appeared in the sky.

I guess it’s all up to how you see and think about things. Yes, perspective: one of my favourite topics.

I had a bit of a perspective moment with these biscuits myself. See the red and white sprinkles? (how Scandi…) I resolutely made the assumption that they were the letter J. J is for Jesus and Christmas is all about him after all. I also just assumed my mother had purchased these sprinkles from the local Christian bookshop.

I don’t think the local Christian bookshop even sells sprinkles for cake tops and my mum hadn’t mentioned going there any time recently. When we actually got to eating the biscuits, I found out that the sprinkles had been purchased from Woolworths. So, despite the fact that I (and one of my nieces) thought it was a J, we didn’t expect Woolworths would be stocking a religious baking accessories line of products. We concluded that Mr Woolworths intended it as a candy cane, regardless of what we might see.

It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

We all come to a text with our own social and cultural background, perspective and bias; even when that ‘text’ is a sprinkle. How much more then when it comes to big events and religious holidays.

What’s your perspective on Christmas? Is it about Candy Canes or Jesus? Are angels skinny or fat (and does that question even matter)?

Why not take the time today, in between the main course and dessert to ask yourself the question: “What’s my perspective on Christmas?” Skinny or fat, the angels give theirs:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”.

Have a Happy Christmas, whichever way you see it.

Yours in seeing a J,

Alison