Did you know that on the 5th of November, there will be 50 days to Christmas? November 5th is a noisy, colourful time of the year and heralds the end of the Autumn season. For me, it can be an evening to drive around certain areas of Swansea whilst pulling over to enjoy a hot dog…or two or, quite simply, sharing a bag of chips with a flask of tea and the windows slightly down. The sights and smells have been so familiar since my childhood days and are a real highlight and something to look forward to.
Halloween would have been and gone and Harvest would have also been celebrated in the midst of the colourful carpet of leaves that continue to fall from trees. Harvest is that time of year to reflect on how food is produced and its journey from farm gate to kitchen plate.
Food miles may not be a natural thought of yours when you eat a banana from the Caribbean or an orange from Seville in Spain. Remember that bananas are loaded with potassium which helps regulate heart function and blood pressure. Potassium-rich foods help to lower blood pressure and protect against heart disease and strokes. Oranges, on the other hand, are high in beta-carotene, a compound our bodies use to make vitamin A, which helps us see in low-light conditions. Vitamin A deficiency is the number 1 cause of preventable blindness in children.
As Autumn gets ready to move over for Winter, daylight hours decrease and the hours of light, albeit artificial light, increases with the heating cranked up in readiness for the cosy stay-indoors nights of winter. Hopefully we did not forget the clocks being turned back an hour at the end of October. If only little ones would realise that adults would really love to benefit from an extra hour of sleep and rest!
Thinking ahead to Christmas, what will your next 50 or so days look like? No doubt some of you will bake in advance. Menu planning, shopping lists and card writing will also feature on some of your ‘Things-to-Do’ lists. How do you intend celebrating Christmas this year? Will you eat out? Will you be elsewhere? Will you be doing the cooking and hosting?
I would like to encourage you to think seriously about the first Christmas story and the true reason for the season – Jesus. I really enjoy watching a nativity presentation when little ones act out the birth of the Baby Jesus. You may well remember a school nativity play where members of your own family played their part, having practiced their lines and then performing to an audience of proud parents and grandparents.
Christmas should be a joyful occasion as we celebrate the birth of a baby. That was good news as referred to by the angel who spoke to a group of shepherds: “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”
Is He your Saviour? Do you have the assurance of sins being forgiven because you’re on a journey of faith as a Christian, a follower of Christ?
I trust that your Christmas preparations in the next few weeks will be stress-free and that you invest time in what’s really important this Christmas – reflecting on the birth of Jesus, remembering why He was born. Thank God for Jesus, the greatest gift this world can ever know.
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (05/11/24)
Written by NIGEL BINDING
All photos courtesy of Unsplash
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