(Please note: this is a reposting of stuff written for Facebook before I started this blog. I am including it here now as it part of the Yule string of thoughts.)
Today’s thoughts regarding Yule are about sharing. For those of you who have not been following, I am writing a daily post through December up to the 21st (Yule – the winter solstice) as a means by which I can reclaim Christmas from Church and Big Business. Because I love Christmas and I want to celebrate it consciously, on my own terms. So, I am using this as a 
platform to gradually figure out what it is I love about this time of year.
So, Sharing. It’s really important. To me and, it seems, to lots of you. Many of you have been kind enough to respond to my posts with your own thoughts about what Christmas means to you, and sharing is a theme that crops up again and again.
It first came into my mind when, earlier this week, a friend turned up at our house with a gift of mince pies. For no other reason than she knows that we love mince pies. And she loves baking them. And they are gooood mince pies. You can tell that they are baked with love. I think that is brilliant – to share your love of something by giving a gift. With no expectation of return. Just to show love. Because it feels good to give. Because you can’t stop yourself. It’s great because it is a revolutionary act.
Our culture today has totally absorbed the notion of a fair exchange, getting your money’s worth, deal or on deal. Look at the recent madness of Black Friday – a whole day predicated on the idea that it is best to get more for your money. That we will feel great if we can get more stuff for less money. What if we find that it feels a lot better to give stuff away. And the giving of gifts is very much part of the Christmas tradition. But let’s not buy into the idea that the gifts have to be expensive stuff – that’s just Big Business trying to get you to put money into their pockets. In fact the gifts don’t have to be stuff at all. The greatest gift you can give is Time – stop rushing around
shopping and instead spend the time with people. And love. Choose, buy, make,give your gifts with love.
andyjukes 