Some of us love getting ready for Christmas; some of us hate it. Some love the preparations; some dread the pile of jobs still to be done ahead of the big day tomorrow. Some of us are excited; others are exhausted. Imagine if nobody was ready ready for Christmas yet: would you be sitting down to this game of Table Talk now or would you be frantically hammering on the supermarket door yelling, 'I’m so desperate, I’ll swap you Auntie Mabel for a turkey!' So with Christmas Day only one sleep away, let’s take some time to talk about this very special time of year.
It’s here at last! The halls are decked with boughs of holly. The night is silent. The manger is away. The shepherds are watching their flocks and the dings are donging merrily on high. The songs, the tastes, the smells, the sounds, the sights, the feelings of Christmas Day. So much to share with each other. And yet the potential for there to be empty seats of people no longer able to sit with us and help us to celebrate today. Time to sit round a table and talk about it!
It’s still a national holiday! Some people will be at the sales today; some will be at football matches. Some will be out on a healthy walk: some will be at the races. Others will be back at work. Boxing Day (or St Stephen’s Day) isn’t just a day for singing a rousing rendition of ‘Good King Wenceslas’, it’s also a day to relax with people you like and have a game of Table Talk.
Can you have too much of a good thing? It might feel as if Christmas jollity, visitors, leftover turkey, and pine needles in the carpet are going on for ever. With rubbish bins overflowing and the fridge full to bursting with cling-filmed plates of puddings, it might feel as if Christmas is turning into a messy, not a merry one. Let’s talk about it.
How’s your year been? Sitting here around this table at this magical day bridging the old year and the new, we have the chance to look back at the old year, remember the good times, be thankful for the great things that have happened, and draw a line under things that are best left behind us.
A whole new year sits in front of us today, like a present still in its wrapping paper. As we look round the table, what will this year hold for each of the people sitting here? New Year’s Day is a chance to share our hopes, our fears, and our dreams – and what better way to start the year than with a chance to talk about it.