Let’s look ahead to 2021with hope in all our hearts
EVERY week in parliament we host a ‘time for reflection’, when religious or secular speakers talk for a few minutes on subjects ranging from the topical to the universal.
It is supposed to be nourishing and thought-provoking in equal measure, urging Scotland’s elected representatives to aspire to always do better.
We have continued the tradition by Zoom and last week the Queen’s Chaplain, the Very Rev Susan Brown, minister at Dornoch Cathedral in Sutherland, addressed those assembled.
‘Why couldn’t Mary and Joseph join their work conference call?’ she asked. ‘Because there was no Zoom at the inn.’
The Covid cracker joke was followed by another: ‘Why are Santa’s reindeer allowed to travel on Christmas Eve? Because they have herd immunity.’
Her sermon in miniature was recognising the limits of Christmas this year and reminded us what is really important. As time for reflection is designed to do, it prompted us to think.
The trappings and artifice of the festive period have been retained despite everything – indeed, people were putting up trees and hanging lights off the front of the house as early as November to make things jollier.
Overconsumption has kept its place, along with fripperies such as tinsel and wrapping paper.
What is missing, what has been taken from us, is the important part – time with loved ones.
To be with and show love to family and make the effort to cross the miles to get to the warmth and laughter and easy care of home.
OK, so some of the superficial has been affected – the work’s Christmas party was taken online and the after-pub freezing taxi queue has been consigned to history, along with the bratwurst and mulled wine smells of the Christmas markets.
But the biggest loss is being denied the simple act of giving someone you haven’t seen in ages a huge hug.
THIS act of loss really does drive home how much people are the most important component of the season. Further, the effort that has been put in to try to make celebrations better for people (within the constraints) has been truly heartening.
From workplaces which have sent gifts and appreciation cards to employees who have spent months working from their kitchen tables, to remind them how valued they are, to community acts designed to raise people’s spirits.
In my small corner of Edinburgh we created an ‘advent calendar’ of windows – each night a different household would decorate a window in a Christmas theme with a big number, so children could ‘collect’ the new display each evening.
On Christmas Eve everyone went outside – socially distanced of course – to ring bells.
Despite the rules, restrictions and empty chairs at the Christmas table we haven’t lost that vital commodity of hope.
Part of the joy of Christmas and New Year is the annual taking stock and pledging to do and be better. This time of year is when even the gnarliest old cynic believes in a brighter future.
After the devastation of this year it is almost impossible not to look at 2021 with a renewed sense of possibility. Being better than 2020 is a pretty low bar to hurdle, but it matters that we can see improvements coming – such as longer days and one vaccine already being administered, with more on the cusp of approval.
In time, we will remember this festive season as a curiosity.
But what will take longer to fade is the feeling of finally understanding what is truly important – family, shared care, contact and company. People make Christmas, and may we never forget this.
IN among all the cooking competitions, reality TV shows and gritty cop dramas, occasionally a gem emerges that takes the TV viewing public by storm.
This year’s unexpected diamond came from Channel 5 and transported us all to a simpler, more gentle time. With no sex or drugs – and the only gore coming from a cow having a breech birth, the 2020 update of All Creatures Great and Small – starring Scot Nicholas Ralph, pictured, managed to be one of the must-watch programmes of the year. It turns out that a twinkle and some warmth can still outshine shock value.
THE best legacy 2020 could leave is showing young people that science matters.
It is only the discovery and rollout of effective vaccines that can break the current Covid cycles.
I hope all the doctors, nurses, clinicians and researchers who are rightly being lionised for their work become the role models we all need to inspire the next generation. That would be a legacy to be proud of.