A clergy colleague of mine in the north of England was desperately scrabbling about in a pile of cardboard packing cases. Screwed-up wrapping paper, various pieces of bubble-wrap, and assorted lengths of old newspapers were flying in all directions. He was obviously searching for something, but no-one around him seemed to understand why he was so frantic about this activity.

Eventually, someone asked what he was up to. “The Nativity Set is incomplete,” he said. “There’s no babe for the manger”. With that he dashed off in the direction of his study to find his copies of the church suppliers’ catalogues so that he could urgently order a new piece which, with any luck, would be at church before Christmas. Sadly, styles had changed since he had purchased the set for church, and there was nothing suitable.

Reluctantly, he returned to the dishevelled pile of boxes, paper and plastic. At long last, there in the corner of one of the boxes was the piece he was looking for. He picked it up, and danced over to the church office saying, “I’ve found Jesus!” From around the corner came a very worthy response – “About time, too, Vicar!”

In all your busyness this month, keep your eyes open. You may find Jesus in all sorts of unexpected places. When you find him, hold on to him - and he’ll give you something to dance and sing about.

Happy Christmas.

David Ainge