Berwick Thought for the Week: Finding hope this Christmas

The recently announced findings of the 2021 Census reveals that fewer than half the population of England and Wales now describe themselves as Christians. Can Christmas still be relevant for those who don’t?

There’s little room here to discuss this question in detail, but I was interested to read that not everyone who ticked ‘No Religion’ in the Census box is simply an atheist nor unspiritual.

In fact, there are broadly three different categories of those who ticked this box and analysis shows that roughly a third of these are not hostile to religion and roughly a third could still be described as spiritual.

The underlying reason why the other third are actively opposed to Christian faith is often because they believe that religious belief is incompatible with science. However, despite the frequent caricature, my experience is that most believers have no difficulty accepting the insights of science into life and the universe.

Even if you ticked ‘No Religion’ in your box, will you join me in finding hope this Christmas? Whatever problems we face in the world today, the essential message of the Christmas story is still one of hope in a difficult world.

Palestine was under Roman occupation, Jesus was conceived out of wedlock, Joseph had to take Mary on a long hard journey for the census and when he got to Bethlehem, there was nowhere to stay. But for all this a baby was born whose other name was Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

As I read the familiar story again, this plants a seed of hope in my soul and reignites my faith when everything else seems hopeless.

Someone once wrote, ‘superficiality is the curse of our age’. Down the years I’ve had different careers and known several churches and local communities. Now retired, I often find myself reflecting on life through the eyes of faith. That is the impetus for the things I write.