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The Spirit of Christmas
Most people would agree with me when
I say that the most enjoyable time of any year is the last month and the
first month of every year. It is a time for sharing joys, family reunions,
festivity and hope for the new year. The Christmas spirit puts life in
perspective and for that reason Christmas is very special to me.
As a student in England I always
tried to spend my Christmas vacation to learn about the other cultures.
London was a very cosmopolitan society and with fellow students from all
over Europe one would get a taste of the variety of Christmas celebrations.
However, the one that has left the most lasting impression on me is the time
that I went and spent Christmas with a Church of England priest and his
family in a small Welch town called Deeside.
It all started when I saw a notice
put up at the Royal Commonwealth Society, of which I was a member, stating
that overseas students who wished to be with a family for Christmas may
contact a number. Curiosity got the better of me and I called. I opted for a
traditional Christmas with a family and all the arrangement went like
clockwork. However, when I told my college friends that I was going to spend
my Christmas vacations with a priest and his family they thought I had lost
my marbles.
The Reverend Turner, his wife and
son, who was a little younger than me, were perfect hosts. They had my room
ready with a hot water bottle and all amenities. The house had no central
heating and that brought the feeling of Christmas much closer at night ! But
the squeaky clean house, excellent roast food and puddings were only half as
interesting as the evenings I spent with the Reverend in conversation by the
fireplace.
He was probably as keen to learn
about my beliefs and me as I was of him. One of my first questions to him
was why did he opt to have an overseas student over for Christmas when he
had a son visiting home from college anyway. He explained that for him
Christmas was a time for sharing joy, learning about others needs and
getting one’s focus right again. Sharing his family with someone who had a
family far away was his way of sharing his happiness. He also emphasised
that his aim was to carry the Christmas spirit into the next year, until
Christmas comes again.
When we returned to college and
compared notes on what we had done over Christmas I had very few words to
offer about what I had learnt. Deep down I felt that I had learnt so much
that it was satisfying in a strange way but I could not quantify it and put
it to words. I guess that is the spirit of Christmas.
However I had plenty of stories
about this wonderful small country town in Wales where everybody in town
seemed to know each other. The news of an Indian student being the guest at
the Reverend’s house reached the High Street even before I could make it
there. And the radio was still called the wireless, even in the mid 1980’s.
The spirit of Christmas has been
very special to me ever since. Every year I enjoy being around with my
family and my children’s friends.
Now that the year has started and it is work as usual, I hope that we can all retain at least some of the spirit of Christmas, until Christmas comes again.
SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS : A college time experience that has stayed with me and I share with you.
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