TWELVE DAYDREAMS OF CHRISTMAS
Why not try one of these in the festive season?

1. Write a note of praise in your Christmas cards
Some people have given up even addressing the recipients by name in their Christmas cards; how wonderful to receive one that praises who you are

2. Buy one thoughtful present and not several wasteful ones
John Lewis seems to have cornered Christmas, but The Hare and the Bear advert at least suggests one imaginative present is all it takes

3.Encourage someone behind the counter in the Christmas sales
It's bad enough shopping after Christmas, so just think about the people looking into our grumpy faces

4.Learn something about the persecuted Church
This is one of the Christian Church's darkest moments for suffering; find out why at www.barnabasfund.org

5.Visit someone on their own at Christmas
Loneliness is a killer in every sense. Try visiting one older person this season
(visit www.campaigntoendloneliness.org first)

6.Pray for victims of random violence
On December 21, 2013 it will be twenty-five years since the Lockerbie bombing; no-one who has been the victim of arbitrary violence ever forgets it

7.Watch Downton Abbey on Christmas Day
There can't be a sting in the tail like 2012's special, can there? What better way to cosy up in front of the TV at Christmas?

8.Pray for regime change in North Korea
King Belshazzar knew his rule was over when he saw the writing on the wall (Daniel 5); it's time the Kim dynasty saw the same for the sake of all Koreans

9.Don't watch Downton Abbey on Christmas Day
It's stilted and snobbish; why do we always look back so fondly on such unequal eras?

10.Do something about the world's garment sewers
As we scrabble for the cheapest clothes in the sales, the world's poorest garment workers are ending a year where many lost their lives (see www.labourbehindthelabel.org, which is on my home page at the end of 2013)

11.Ring someone up to wish them a happy new year; don't text it
Texting makes communication so much easier yet paradoxically has made us much less relational

12.Remember it's still the Christmas season when you return to work on January 2
No? Oh well, it was worth a try.