“The main man isn’t here yet!”
We were waiting with the crowds in late November for the Campbeltown Christmas lights to be switched on (thank you, Campbeltown Christmas Lights Group!).
The flow of floats, pipes and marching groups stopped.
“Is it over?” I asked. (This was my first Christmas Lights event.)
The man next to me grinned: “The main man isn’t here yet!”
The final convoy came past, including the “main man”, Santa.
“Let’s go and see the lights turned on,” the man said to his companion and they set off to see Santa do his thing by the town hall.
Actually, when the lights come on, nobody in the whole of Main Street or Longrow can miss them.
I happily accept that when it comes to Christmas lights, the “main man” is Santa but it might be a good thing if, come Christmas Day itself, we give some thought to the real “main man”, Jesus.
He was born in Bethlehem in a country, Judea, occupied by the Roman army and ruled by a foreigner put in by the Romans, King Herod.
His birth, over 2,000 years ago, is being remembered again and we can hear the story again this Christmas.
Some parts of this story were penned by people of the time who actually knew him, Matthew and John.
It is read once more on or around his day, Christmas Day, in 20 million or more churches in the world (some celebrate December 25, some on different days, but nearly all within four weeks).
One of his friends, John, explained his birth like this: “The true light, which gives light to every human being, was coming into the world.”
St Kiaran’s Episcopal Church, Campbeltown.