Well, I’ve had my first Christmas card and I was extremely pleased to receive it too. It was a timely reminder that God can do some lovely things in the saddest of situations. 

I was given it by someone I met while I was serving as chaplain to the asylum seekers when they were placed in Penally, and that was definitely not a happy time. 

Covid was shaping our lives in ways we never anticipated and in addition to this I was deeply disturbed because I knew it was not a suitable location. 

But I met some great people while I was there and one of them turned up last week and handed me that card as a ‘thank you’ for the difference I had made in her life.

This has happened a few times recently. Just a few weeks ago for example, an old friend took me aside and apologised for not thanking me for something I had done for her husband and herself more than twenty years ago. That was hugely encouraging too, and a powerful reminder that a simple ‘thank you’ can have a lasting impact.

I’m sure the apostle Paul understood this given what he wrote at the beginning of his letter to the Philippians. 

‘Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God’ he wrote. ‘Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now’.

The Christians in the Philippian church had certainly proved faithful partners over the years. They had helped Paul on more than one occasion despite their poverty-stricken condition, and they were continuing to do so even though he was far away from them locked in a Roman prison.

We should never forget how important it is to say ‘thank you’,  but it’s worth knowing that doing so can have a positive impact on our lives too.  Research has shown that thankful people are on average happier people, and one psychologist has gone so far as to say that practicing gratitude can increase our happiness by twenty-five per cent.

Interestingly, I came across another study the other day that seems to show that faith in God can be good for us too.  Entitled ‘Keep the Faith: Mental Health in the UK’ produced by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life it analysed figures obtained from over 2000 adults in September and concluded that ‘Brits who identify as more religious report a higher level of mental wellbeing’.

So, do you want a happier Christmas? If you do it might be worth making the effort to say thank you to some of those who have enriched your life. You could write a letter as the apostle Paul did or you could do what he was unable to do, you could email them, telephone them or even invite them for a coffee (and cake of course).

And do you want to get more out of life? The evidence seems to show that you could do nothing better than reach out to the God who has reached out to you through the birth of that baby born in a Bethlehem stable! For He is the God who has assured us that we will find Him if we want to do so. So why not give it a go? You’ve got nothing to lose.