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I have a friend who does Christmas Trees like no-one else I know. Lights and colour with decorations covering green branches with the spectrum of ornaments from Santa and tinsel to sacred and Christian symbols.

Contemplation comes naturally and easily when sitting before Chris’ tree.

We don’t generally think of trees themselves as being sacred but divine artistry really is evident in every tree whether the young pine cut for Christmas or the mighty Tāne Mahuta which may have been a sapling when Jesus was in swaddling clothes.

Whatever the tree, even in natural and undecorated form, what exquisite artistry, surely enough when pondered to raise the mind and heart to God.

While not every tree is trimmed with coloured lights the daily light of the sun is essential for the growth of every tree.

Without the sun there is no life.

As I write this gratitude rises in me – the sun’s light, new every morning, is evidence that we humans are not random products of evolution but participants in the divine act of creation.

Perhaps we struggle with this fact?

It’s common to celebrate Christmas as an annual reminder that two thousand years ago God chose to live among us.

What we struggle with is the presence and power and intimacy of God with us here and now, today, in whatever nitty-gritty high-or-low circumstances are part of my life today.

If we fail to live this Christmas fact with passion and delight we’ve missed the whole point.

And the Christmas story in every detail of the well-known account is that God’s preferred point of entry is the unexpected, the dysfunction, the disorder even the chaos and sin of human reality since this is where we humans begin to experience our capacity for something, for someone who is both outside of ourselves and divine and who has the power and desire to save us.

If trees are in existence as a product of divine design, how much more is each one of us, friends and family, enemies and strangers, all of us, held in the light of God’s love.

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Here’s an inclusive grace you might like to use at your Christmas meal this year.

A Grace before Christmas Dinner

One of the more senior people
at the dinner begins saying:

Before we share this Christmas meal together,
Let us take a moment of silent prayer
to give God thanks
for all the blessings we have received this year
and for the burdens we bear, shared and personal.

A moment of silent reflection follows
Then the leader continues

Let us remember those
we have shared Christmas with in past years,
those who have died,
and also those who are not able to be with us today.
Let us now share aloud
the names of those we especially wish to remember.

Those at table take a moment
to share the names of those
they wish to remember.

When the names have been shared
a candle is lit in the centre of the table
(perhaps by one of the children).
Then the leader prays

May the light of this candle
lead us to the One
who overcomes every darkness.

And for what we receive in this meal,
the food, drink, and family and friendship,
let us be deeply grateful.

Amen