So This Is Christmas, And What Have We Done?

The song is very ‘cheesy’ but John Lennon’s old Christmas ballad asks a good question. Here are the first few lines of “Happy Xmas, War is Over”

“So this is Christmas

And what have you done?

Another year over

And a new one just begun”

 Alright, we need to look past Lennon’s chronological inconsistency because obviously if it is Christmas, the year is not yet over and the new year has not just begun, and it doesn’t begin for another week. So put that aside for a minute, and allowing for artistic license, there’s actually a really good challenge in those first few lines.

Lennon’s lyrics pose a worthwhile, confronting question. Christmas is upon us, the calendar year is nearly over, this is indeed a good time to reflect and ask: what have we done?

What have we done? What have we achieved? What has been worth the time and effort that we put in throughout 2024? Out of all our efforts upon which of them can we recall and feel content, feel satisfied, feel pleased with the outcomes? Doing this type of reflective thinking is likely to reveal there is an upside-down rule at work.

There seems to be in life, some inversion rule. Some things work out to be upside down. It is like this: the things we do for ourselves and to please ourselves are strangely far less fulfilling than the things we do in service for others. As we look back over the year, and indeed, over our lives, the most fulfilling things we’ve done will not be self-serving, they will be acts of selflessness. It seems counter-intuitive. In serving ourselves we don’t find fulfillment, but in serving others we uncover a sense of purpose.

An ancient prayer-poem is called ‘The Prayer of St Francis’. Here are the last few lines:

“… it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

There is deep wisdom there.

Let’s follow John Lennon’s advice and as the year creeps towards closure, reflect on what we have done that is worthwhile. The worthiest of our achievements will be those that serve, particularly within our families. Working for the good of others; our children, our parents, our husbands and wives; these are the ‘things’ in our lives that matter and that matter most.

Let’s reflect on the year and redeem this end of it. Let’s honour the Christmas season as a time of serving and loving others.