The True Spirit of Christmas

We bought this nativity yurt in Kyrgyzstan.  This delightful Christian woman Mira made it with her group of women who she has taught the skills of felt making and sewing so they can become self-employed to earn an income for their family.  Most of these women have found Christ during their time with Mira, as she is also a gifted evangelist.  I bought three yurts to bring home and many other beautiful items she had made.  With tears in her eyes, she said to me "I had all these bills to pay, wages to pay and mouths to feed and I had no idea how I would pay them, but I prayed.  God has answered my prayers abundantly."  How much had a spent?  In Australian terms, very little.

We had visited Mira in her home and met her mother, grandmother and extended family.  Most of them lived with Mira in a tiny two room apartment, with a tiny bathroom and kitchen.  This space doubled as her workspace, so they slept on mats which were rolled up each morning and stored.  There was no clutter of "stuff" anywhere.

I came home keen to declutter my life.  However, it has taken considerable time and effort.  The lure of covetness is deceptive - a new book, a cd, new tea - do I really need them?  For a long time, I have been keen to change the gift giving patterns of our family at Christmas.  As I unpacked the yurt and erected it, I remembered Mira and my resolution.

The weeks leading up to Christmas are normally filled with stress, heat and chaos.  Normally I awaken on Christmas morning exhausted and try hard to remember what we are celebrating.  The last four years have not been easy for my family.  We have lost beloved friends - both men in the prime of life, leaving wives and children and friends.  My health has dominated family life for almost four years and erecting a Christmas tree was not high on our list of priorities.

This year, Keith bought us a fresh Christmas tree on our wedding anniversary.  I put beautiful Christmas music on, decorated the tree with decorations filled with memories, erected our nativity yurt and found our advent calendars.  Two of our children were away and our third was involved with the Glebe Street Fair, so they returned to a home filled with the scent of a Christmas tree - much to their delight.

I sat and listened to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols as celebrated on Christmas Eve in the Chapel of King's College Cambridge and feasted on the words in the Bible readings and songs.  My mind has been filled with the story of the coming of God's saviour - from Isaiah's prophesies to the story of his birth in a stable in Bethlehem.

I have two friends who are "40 weeks heavy with child" and can't imagine either of them giving birth in a stable and then placing their precious child in an animal's feeding box!  But this is what Mary did, and this is how God chose to bring His saviour into the world.  I have slept in a yurt and it smells, and the odours are not particularly pleasant.  Even from his birth, Jesus was "lowly and despised".

I read these words "lowly and despised" this morning in Psalm 119 and they are not referring to Jesus but to us:

"Though I am lowly and despised,
I do not forget your precepts.
Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.
Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands are my delight."  Psalm 119:141-143

It was shepherds, some wise men and angels who witnessed this remarkable event - Joseph and Mary's relatives were noticeably absent, although they must have been in Bethlehem for the census count.  It was the angels who rejoiced with music and the wise men who brought gifts. This year, my extended family are giving gifts to others who need things more than us.  We have done our shopping from the world's most useful catalogue and purchased a community school, a heifer and a toilet.  We are hoping they bring the same delight to a community that I brought to Mira in Kyrgyzstan.