More from John McWhirter-Whitlock

Today’s mediation is about God reminding me of how special Christmas Day is. Both my parents died in the early 1980’s, Mum in 1982 and Dad in 1984. For a number of years I spent Christmas Day generally alone, or on the odd occasion friends would invite me over to spend Christmas Day with them.

Between Christmas 1984 and 1991, Christmas Day was just another day, a public holiday. I would go to church sing Christmas carols and hear the Christmas story of a baby born in a barn. I would go home and watch television, generally alone. I am an only child so I did not have any family to share Christmas with.

This continued till I met my wife Rosemary in 1990. We married on the 24^th of August, 1991. Christmas was better as I was sharing it with my wife Rosemary. It was the birth of my son Peter on December 5, 1993 that things really changed. As I was sitting in church on Christmas Day, holding my son in my arms, I felt really alive and that I had someone who made Christmas special for me.

As I reflected on Christmas, I was reminded that for many Christmas Days I had been alone. That day, as I held my sleeping son, God reminded me of his promise to always be with us.  And I knew that God had always been with me, I was never alone. The Christmas story reminded me of God’s love for me. That was the day when Christmas Day became real for me.