Christopher Idle sees the approach of Christmas as an opportunity to do some good
‘Show you care this Christmas. Send a card.’
For once, this Royal Mail slogan from last year’s postmark has a point. Does it really show that you care, at least for the recipient? Yes, it may do just that, at a time when thousands go for what seems like the simpler and cheaper option of emailing everyone. We don’t have to buy cards, address them or send them at all. You could argue, as some do, that they are a comparatively modern invention (around the 1840s? – so even my great-grandma didn’t get a lot) and have become part of what we often bewail as the commercialisation of Christmas.
It’s not in the Bible
But then – we don’t need to keep Christmas at all; it’s not in the Bible! Let’s assume for the purposes of this page that you do observe Christmas in some form, but that your enthusiasm for cards is waning. How so?
So much time
‘They take up so much time!’ But even if I’ve not found many hours for my friends this year (‘where have they all gone?’) isn’t anyone worth five minutes at Christmas? Start early (obvious) and a TV-free week (radical) should give you plenty of time!
Too many friends
‘But I’ve got hundreds of friends!’ How thinly can you spread your friendship before it evaporates completely? You could try dividing them into two groups, and send half your greetings at Easter. Well, it’s a thought!
It costs so much
‘But these days the postage costs more than the card!’ So? If you ever sent any abroad (if not, why not?) then it usually did. And have you never made your own? They can mean a lot to those who receive them. I manage a few each year, mainly to family; but I don’t expect the postage to be free as well!
Just an email?
If all I get is an email with no personal note whatever (‘Dear All…’), I have no reason to believe that the sender actually thought of me for a moment.
Just press the button and it’s all done for another year. Is that, to quote a phrase, ‘what Christmas is all about’?
But if you send a card, you can first choose it (not just robins and snowmen), then add a handwritten greeting inside, address the envelope, affix a stamp (don’t even have to lick it these days), and walk to the little red pillar box on the corner (remember them?) or a hole in the wall (still red) and pray for God’s blessing at each address as you put the card in the slot. Well worth a try!
Cheering for the lonely
Then back home, you may just receive some cards to put around the house. If you live alone, they can be very cheering; alone or not, when visitors come you can point out some special ones, or the gospel message on the front.
I’ve never yet found anyone who decorates their bookshelves and mantelpiece with email print-outs!
I’m not gunning for overseas workers without the resources which UK Christians may take for granted. Nor am I against emails for other purposes, or even multi-produced Christmas letters; easy to ridicule and sometimes beyond parody. Anyone who writes them should first read some of Simon Hoggart’s published selections: The Hamster that loved Puccini, etc; Christians, prepare to cringe. So think what your friends might want to hear, not just what you want to tell them. And add a personal note that doesn’t just say: ‘In haste; will write again soon’, which often means they can expect the same message in 12 months’ time.
An opportunity to go with the flow
We believers in Christ usually find ourselves up against the prevailing secular culture, constantly going against the grain. Here’s a golden opportunity to go with the flow, by doing something which is still almost universally acceptable – and with a clear gospel angle. Let our greetings be seasoned with salt (Colossians 4.6), not just snow or the ‘send’ button.
