For as long as I can remember, December has meant Christmas, and Christmas has meant presents. I remember my first. A hand made cuddly dog called Pongo. My semi-furry grey toy had two very short front legs and a body hardly wider than the head which comprised of three buttons for eyes and nose and black stitching for a mouth. His ears were blue, and he had two slightly longer back legs to ensure that the upright seated posture was maintained. He was very tightly stuffed full of wood shavings from Grandad’s back yard shed.
When the air-raid sirens went off, I would clutch him tightly and calm him down and, just in case Germans soldiers could hear, I would murmur “Quiet Pongo.’ This would be around 1943 and a lot has happened since.
When Dad came home in 1946, it was the first time I had knowingly seen him, and the following Christmas I had a Hornby LMS Train Set with three carriages. It went round and round and fell off the tracks if you wound the spring up too much.
Later, I learned that Christmas was not about presents to me, but that I was expected to give something to other people as well. I also learned that December the 25th celebrated the birth of an extraordinary human being, in fact a human being who lived a perfect life and who managed to resist all the sorts of temptations that have trouble me all my life.
Throughout his life he set such a personal standard of behaviour that the moral guardians of the time felt so shamed inside themselves, that they diverted their stress into outrage against him. They did this to such an extent that they would not listen to him. And eventually they rigged charges and a trial to get rid of him. But more of that at Easter, December is the month when we look forward to the celebration of the birth of Yeshua the Jewish Messiah who the Greeks called Jesus Christ. The Son of God whom we worship in Church on Christmas morning.
As I have aged, the number of things I want to do rises but my ability to do them decreases. December is no exception, and after many years of Marie catering for the family and friends we shall now spend some time with my daughter, husband, and menagerie in Little Dewchurch. I have also given up leading the carollers around Pauntley but will still be singing with the new ‘leaders’ and we hope to finish at the Court for hot toddy and treats as usual.
I also notice technology is changing fast, but that human nature does not change at all. Therefore, I do wonder if, when Artificial Intelligence (AI) is further developed, modular bits of it will form alliances with other bits on a tribal or self-interest basis? If so, will these alliances ‘think’ that they are more important than other bits. Will AI discover a St Paul in its midst to point out that it works better when it is of one mind and that the purpose of the mind behind its creation intended that it be a positive force for good, but that it had clearly decided to develop rules of its own and pursue its own interests?
This could be dangerous for us all and I do know one of its creators (Elon Musk) said that it should have a switch to kill it when it ‘wilfully’ persists in doing what it was not created to do. I guess that so long as it doesn’t have free will then we should regard it as a friend. Once it has made a choice however, it may become our enemy.
In the meantime, I shall continue to see a hope for the whole of creation at Christmas time, and that like me, you will be in Church ready to raise your voice in hope and praise as together we sing. Adestes Fidelis,: O Come all Ye Faithful.
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning
Jesus, to Thee be glory given
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him.
Go on; sing it to yourself right now!
View from the Pew 