...this photograph was taken on Anzac Day...
Ceremonies are a vital and intangible link to the structure of the human that we are. We draw on these memories when we experience devastating life-changing events while they give us the ability to survive. They help create hope in times where it appears to have deserted us. Christmas is both the simplest and one of the most complex ceremonies in our age. Despite the endless scholarly questions that can be raised, it is indeed based on five basic things: the value of the life of every single child; a reason for the need for a national census; joy; inevitability, and the immense effort and determination that people sometimes take to reach their destinations.
A ceremony can be as dedicated as a regular Friday night walk along a river, up to the pub on the hill; it can be as wonderful as getting up at five o'clock every Christmas morning and listening to the story of "The Giant's Garden" each year. The Christmas stocking left on the end of my bed, filled with apricots and plums, a book and a toy ring in the toe every year will always be the most magnificent stocking…something that lifts me and inspires me.
Wealth will not bring joy - it is only a tool that is transparent through the eyes of a child. A small tin filled with cheap plastic cars, a story of a poor Victorian child's Christmas, or a packet of bright stickers can create the same impression. 'Waiting' for the right day to open the gifts, hidden inside colourful, crackly paper teaches a little patience. 'Finding and giving' teaches a reluctant child to share. 'Making' a gift or a special meal teaches the small but worthwhile rewards of any effort, no matter how small the effort. 'Celebrating' a day such as Christmas day (don't forget Hanukkah, for example) in whatever respectful way you chose to celebrate it, allows the act of hope…and hope is something internal that every individual and every child needs and deserves.
