reindeer? Perhaps he could just hang around the stores for another week or so asking kids: “how did you like the presents? Did I get it right this year?” That would certainly put an end to the sort of problems you hear about, where the kid’s first encounter with Santa includes a solid kick in the shins, with an accompanying “that’s for last year, you hopeless bastard!” No… catch the kid while he’s still full of Christmas cheer and in a good mood, and maybe we can all make a smoother transition into the next Christmas period.
The other group that normally vanishes from sight at about this time of year are the extras who fill the pews on Christmas day. ‘C&E’s’ we call them – ‘Christmas & Easters’. We had a decent number this year! Mind you, they never put much in the offertory plate though, do they? Perhaps it’s the way I sneer at them at communion and farewell them with a “see ya’ll next year!”
No, I don’t really do that. Indeed, I quite frankly enjoy anticipating who might be joining us this year? And there are always a few surprises. The converse is also true, of course – that by the time we reach Epiphany, there are generally no surprises as to who turns up to church on the Sunday. It’s just us really serious church-goers – just us, the true believers, and the baby Jesus – our baby Jesus!
Yes, the rest of Australia might pay Him some sort of well-intentioned homage at Christmas time, when the tinsel is out and carols are playing and the booze is flowing freely. But we know who will be left at the little Nativity scene after all the singing dies down, after the angels go back into heaven, the shepherds return to their fields, and the little drummer boy goes back to his band – just Mary,