Chairmans December Editorial

‘Christmas isn’t a season – it’s a feeling’.  Whatever your thoughts about the significance of Christmas as a religious festival, there is no escaping the fact that the Christmas season is now well and truly on us – and, indeed, has been for some time now if truth be told.  One of our local Garden Centres started clearing the decks in readiness for their festive displays in September; Christmassy adverts have been befouling our television screens for what seems like months, and supermarket shelves are rammed with Christmas fare, from mince pies and cakes to miniature bottles of whisky and a Guinness sampler containing stout, a glass and a woolly hat.  I have even been (almost!) tempted by a Christmas stocking, stuffed full of treats, which, the packaging assures me, would prove ‘irresistible’ to my housemate, Jasper, the rescue tabby cat.  If only I didn’t credit him with more taste…!

As U3A Members, is this really what Christmas is all about – a festival of unalloyed consumerism, consumption until we feel positively poorly, and greed?  Of course it isn’t - and there are countless examples of our members putting themselves out for others at this time of year – and beyond – which, in my opinion represents the very best ‘Spirit of Christmas’.  In this issue of the Newsletter, for instance, Pam Hardwick writes of the generosity of members in their support of our elected charity, the Notts and Lincs Air Ambulance, the Banjoleers are busy rehearsing for their spot at the forthcoming Christmas Party, and, as I write, volunteers from the Dukeries U3A are manning a publicity stall at the Edwinstowe Christmas Lights event in the hope of attracting more members to our wonderful organisation.

For many of us, Christmas is, quite rightly, a highlight of the year.  A chance to meet up with loved ones, to see our grandchildren’s faces light up when they see Grandma and Grandad, a time for play, or a good, brisk family walk – maybe in the snow, perhaps? – a time for reminiscence and quiet celebration – in other words, exactly what Christmas should be.  Remember, though, those folk amongst our members for whom Christmas has a very different significance, those who may not have a family to draw together with at Christmas, those who may be struggling financially or with their health, or those who have lost loved ones in the Christmas season. Please spare a thought or two, and maybe a kind word of support, for these people too.

However, you are celebrating, or commemorating, the season, I wish you all the very happiest of Christmases.

Mike