“John Lennon once sang, “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try…” well, imagine Christmas without Christ – what are we left with? All we are left with is ‘Mass’ – a mass neglect of God; a massive commercial racket; a mass of debt, and a massive headache. Whether one likes Christmas or not, whether one acknowledges it or not is irrelevant – Christmas plays a massive part in many people’s lives, and whether you celebrate the Feast of Lights (Chanukah) or the celebration of the birth of Jesus – these are times when houses are filled with light. Have you noticed that people put their Christmas decorations up early every year? This speaks to me of the need to have light and something to look forward to. The people are crying out for something to pull them out of the darkness. Without this event, we are left with a dark cold winter’s day. Well, today the world demands we have a Christmas without Christ – they’ll call it ‘Festive holidays’ or ‘Winter holidays’… just don’t mention the Christmas message!” David Soakell