From ACNS-
In his traditional Christmas sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, focuses on how the birth of Jesus is but one stage of the fulfilment of God's unchanging promise of support in the struggle for human redemption, how 'the story of Jesus is the story of a God who keeps promises'.
So Christmas is a time of coming to terms with God's all embracing and redemptive love for us, despite the cost and the tragedy involved, the human failures and betrayals. God, he asserts, despite our limitations and the humiliation our weaknesses lay on him, realises " we cannot live without him; and he accepts everything for the sake of our well-being"
In this Christmas context, Dr Williams urges us to first of all contemplate our mutual dependence on our fellow human beings - our need for a spirit of fellowship and loyalty to each other in sharing the burdens of adversity in difficult economic times:
"Faced with the hardship that quite clearly lies ahead for so many in the wake of financial crisis and public spending cuts, how far are we able to sustain a living sense of loyalty to each other, a real willingness to bear the load together? How eager are we to find some spot where we feel safe from the pressures that are crippling and terrifying others? As has more than once been said, we can and will as a society bear hardship if we are confident that it is being fairly shared; and we shall have that confidence only if there are signs that everyone is committed to their neighbour, that no-one is just forgotten, that no interest group or pressure group is able to opt out."
And he points to the need for us to work positively together in order to rebuild trust:
More here-
http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2010/12/25/ACNS4761
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