Do your part this Christmas

By Dr Remy Perumal

This has not been a normal year and Christmas too will be different!

COVID-19 has taken over our lives, our liberties and our way of living. Recent projections of the pandemic were bleak and chilling, forcing another lockdown in the UK where I live. In this climate of lingering uncertainty, the traditional family, so embattled by the consequences, will need to tighten its belt. The festivities will inevitably be subdued. However, with an effective vaccine approved, there is hope on the horizon. So, it’s beginning to look like Christmas!
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. Today, the religious significance of Christmas is overcome by the commercial hype and purchasing mania.  Christmas is perceived by the secularists as a holiday period, for drink, partying and general festivities.

In Sri Lanka, Christians customarily have their homes cleaned and colour-washed. The Christmas cake and other sweetmeats are made, gifts packed, and food prepared. Churches are cleaned, decorated and cribs laid out.  Choirs would be rehearsing for the Christmas services. Pre-Christmas concerts are staged and schoolchildren will be excited about their Nativity plays. However this year, these activities are notably absent. 

In the UK too, there is an eerie silence in the malls. The usual ‘hustle and bustle’ is notably absent, so are the buskers and choirs singing Christmas songs and carols. 

In London, at Oxford Street – there was no crowds and celebrity switch on of the Christmas lights. The iconic Santa’s Grotto at Harrods departmental store and the traditional Hamley’s toy display are missing.  Curtains are down in all West End theatres denying us the West End musicals and carol concerts. Carol singing in the shopping centres is not allowed.. All carol singing events, our own Epsom male voice choir had planned to entertain residents in care homes, will not happen. The echoing wax scented churches too, will be devoid of their carolling congregations, that includes all Christmas services of Nine Lessons and Carols.   Whether it is for the festive aspect or religious significance, large numbers do attend Christmas Midnight Mass. These midnight services are permitted, but not carol singing.

Christmas trees and decorations traditionally start going on display when Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Early onset decorating is an act of defiance this year, a howl against the restrictive encroachments and worries of 2020.

All the above mentioned activities contribute to the Christmas experience. Absence of this build-up does intensify the bleakness of this Advent season. These may seem superficial, but as they impact on the entertainment and other related services, there is a human and economic cost. It also brings to the fore two important social issues - loneliness and homelessness. Loneliness at Christmas is of particular significance in Western countries.

Many of us are experiencing loneliness during this pandemic. In our efforts to stay safe, our usual ways of seeing family, friends or just familiar faces, have been put on pause. Those who lost a loved one to COVID, will feel isolated and sad at this, their first Christmas, after the loss.  The elderly living on their own, will miss their social gatherings. 

At this magical time of Christmas, when loved ones reconnect and get together for the festivities, many will be forced by the restrictions, to be alone, in front of the ‘box’.  A telephone call from friends or a neighbour would be very welcome. So would a Christmas wish or a brief visit on Christmas Day - observing social distancing rules of course. 

This ‘deep midwinter’ Christmas, as COVID restrictions prevail, the numbers allowed to gather at Christmas, is limited. There are similarities to our first Christmas in the UK, 50 years ago. I with my wife and our daughter who was a toddler, were in a one-bed rented accommodation, with no friends nearby and no telephone.  I was on call on Christmas Eve, which meant I had to be resident in hospital, whilst my wife and daughter were in the flat. Add to it all, my daughter became ill that afternoon.  The only option was to get my wife and daughter to hospital and stay in the ‘on call’ room. It snowed heavily that Christmas night. When I finished my shift on Christmas morning, it was a horrendous one mile walk to the underground station, slipping and sliding on six inches of snow. We were 6000 miles from our families. Even a telephone call to speak to our loved ones was not an option due the prohibitive cost of international telephone calls. International calls were not possible from a public call box. 

This personal experience helps me empathise with those who are isolated this Christmas. We were so pleased to be invited for Christmas lunch by our landlord and his wife.  Christmas this year would be lonely for lots of people, in particular, the widowed elderly living on their own, or with partners, those separated from their loved ones due to travel restrictions and those in nursing homes.

With the restrictions on socialising this Christmas,  it would be again, the three of us, as it was 50 years ago. Other family members are excluded and no grandchildren to hug and kiss. Yet, we are far from isolated or lonely because with today’s social media network we can communicate freely with friends and extended family both in the UK and abroad.  We are even permitted to attend ‘Christmas midnight’ service.  
It spite of the restriction, we are glad to be spared this terrible malady.  Hence we will ‘deck our halls with boughs of holly’ and enjoy a traditional Christmas, although it is just the three of us, for Christmas lunch.  This allows us to focus on the true significance of Christmas, which is celebrating the birth of baby Jesus.  

Christmas heralds, the message of ‘hope and joy of a new life’.  With the discovery of vaccines for COVID, mankind has hope in the horizon for a ‘new life.’ Hence, this unusual Christmas, we have the opportunity to step back and reflect - to ask ourselves, fundamental questions about our lives, our values, attitudes and even the nature of our realities. Post COVID-19, there will be changes to our lifestyles. They could be just physical changes, changes in our attitudes to life, our outlook and indeed our perceptions and even how we behave towards others or the less fortunate. It is time to think of the good we can do to help shape a better world.

We could dwell on the words of the late Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sachs in his ‘Thought of the Day’ this year: “We have been through so much, to simply to go back to where we were. We have to rescue some blessings from the curse, some hope from the pain.” 

Have a happy Christmas everyone!