Y is for Yule

 

When Yule gets mentioned I can be pretty sure that we are not talking about Christmas 2025!  Yule is a nostalgic word, evoking well-dressed, jolly ladies and gentlemen shown on tins of Quality Street.  It's about an age of innocence when children thought themselves lucky if they got an orange and 6d in their stocking.  

I have a strong suspicion that it's nostalgia for a Christmas that never was.  

When I was a child in the fifties I remember my parents talking about the Christmas of their childhoods, Christmas before the Second World War and during that war.  And the theme was that we, as children, didn't have the pure, authentic Christmas which they had as children and it was far too centered on presents and glitter and excess.  In fact, they were making the same sort of remarks about Christmases past as I hear being said today as we oldies look back to our childhoods.  I'll add to the chorus by saying that the plastic tubs of Quality Street aren't as nice as the tins we used to have. 

In fact, I wonder how long saying, "It's not like the Christmases we had" has been as traditional at Christmas as mince pies!

X is for the X factor

 

Quite easy to think of this one - X means Christ in Xmas.  Faith is the centre, the fabric, the past, the present and the future of my Christmas celebrations.  

But there are little things which enrich the annual celebration of Christ's birth.  When I was in the regulars I lead Christingle services on Christmas Eve and the memory of the wonder on children's faces as we sang "Away in a manger" by candlelight is something I still treasure.  

These days I cook quite a few Christmas puddings (fifteen this year) and give most of them away but in return I get home-made mince pies, sausage rolls,  things which I don't make but remind me of my friends on Christmas Day.

There are decorations given to me by friends over the years, precious bits which lack commercial perfection but which bring the perfect gift of love.  And it is the gift of love which matters.  

 

W is for Wreath

 One of our local churches has a brilliant fund raiser every year.  The churchwarden has a friend who is a florist and she organises a wreath making session.  We pay for the session and there is also a raffle.   The organiser provides wreath bases, ribbon and a few essentials.   Everyone takes greenery and whatever bits and pieces they want to decorate their wreath.  The organiser provides wreath bases, ribbon and a few essentials.  And somehow we also take nibbles and drinks for a pleasant evening together.  

Except that this year I booked my place, paid for it, and then was ill that day.  There isn't a loo in that church so I just couldn't go.

But the organiser sent the wreath which the demonstrator had made.  How kind is that!!!

V is for visit

 

Yesterday it was hard to write a post about "U" but today I had a choice for "V".  The obvious subject was the Virgin Mary, but instead I wanted to share the Advent Collect with you.  In many Anglican churches it is used throughout Advent in addition to the collect for the day.  The more modern version omits the word "visit" but I remember being struck by it as a child.  

Almighty God,

Give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness,

and put upon us the armour of light,

now in the time of this mortal life,

in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;

that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead,

we may rise to the life immortal;

through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever.

Another thing I remember as a child is being taken on seemingly innumerable visits to people I didn't really know but who were known to my parents as people who would have a lonely Christmas.  It's a custom I still maintain as do many others.  

The posh gentlemen have got fed up with walking as their feet are so sore and they are considering giving up the idea of visiting.  (The camels went on strike a while ago.)  They've now hijacked my car and my trundle truck.  And it would appear that they pinched some Elastoplast for their blisters!   

And I've just had a visit from Jack, not to sort my garden but to exchange presents.  Jack, thank you for all you do.  I hope you (and all my readers) have a blessed Christmas and a peaceful 2026.