Dear LPG,

I am one of those people who never puts my Christmas decorations up until we have reached December 1^st each year and, even though no one was joining our Christmas bubble this year, we got them out of the box under the stairs and went through the motions.  Our house has a glass front door and it would not be the same if you could not see the flashing lights as you walk up the garden path.  (I suppose I’m thinking of the postman and the milk man, and me on the few occasions that I was able to venture out and return up the path myself last Christmas).  I have always thought that my Christmas decoration’s outing each year is much too short but the bad luck aspect of leaving them up even a day too long usually compels us to ‘get ‘em down’.

But yesterday was 12^th night (January 6^th) so I did my duty and took them down only to hear a news broadcast which inspired my writing this message and asking LPG to keep it for a month or so before posting it.

English Heritage, the organisation that keeps many UK heritage sites open, have reminded us that, although the wise men are thought to have visited Jesus twelve days after his birth, Christmas does not actually end until today.  In the days when Jesus was born, babies would be officially presented to the church while the mother of any new-born baby would need to undergo a ritual ceremony before being accepted back into the church. These events would have happened 40 days after his birth which takes us up to today. There is also the story of Simion who managed to live some 200 years because God promised that he could see the baby Jesus before he died. They also mentioned that, after the year we have had, the continued Christmas lights will cheer us all up and we all know that lockdown in winter needs even more reasons to be cheerful than the one we experienced last summer.

So, even if you are not a devout catholic, today might be the day to get any decorations down that might have been missed so far this year, and the tradition of leaving a church-blessed candle in the window tonight might sound appealing to some, though I think that God will forgive us for a battery operated one to make sure that there are no fires. 

It is also groundhog day, but I wrote all about that last year (►►►). 

As I said, I am writing in advance, but by now we will have more of an idea about how much longer we have to be locked down, the weather will be at its worst, and the ‘who has and who hasn’t been vaccinated’ list will be clearer I hope.

In the meantime, I suggest we get the decorations down, find a little light for the window tonight and see if the groundhog’s predictions for the next 40 or so days ring true…

KB, Beckenham

KB, found some internet information about the festival of Candlemas

   (►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)    (►►►)

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)