When you go to a restaurant you will spend some time studying the menu, whetting the appetite, seeing what is new or different from everyday fare - and finally make your order. While you are ordering, order will be maintained in the kitchen so that the ordered food is good, ready and sent to the table. The proof is in the eating, but you will certainly see that it is good. Is there a parallel here with creation? God spoke, called forth, ordered, and saw that it was good. It was a word in season. Order was made of the chaos, and the process continues in that the chaos of our own lives are brought into order in the light of Christ. It is ongoing.

There may of course be pandemonium in the kitchen, to continue the metaphor, but order is brought to bear so that the respective dishes ordered are served in order. For a good chef each dish is an act of creation. As we celebrate Christmas we may be too preoccupied with the cuisine and the preparation for the feast, but there will certainly be stages of chaos out of which order is expected. However, look through the wrapping and focus on the Christ child, for here, too, God has brought forth having ordered the chaos and human limitations to comply. The child becomes the process of ordering, and bringing order, into our lives, by which we become the ordered. The analogy moves on, for instance, from the R.S.M.'s words of command to bring something about to that actually happening, decently and in orderly fashion. That is to say, like the Queen's Birthday Parade when "all the Queen's horses and all the Queen's men" will rehearse their order and their responses - and she will see that it is good. Afterwards, her health is drunk.

Do we need order in our lives? Very much so if we are to enjoy the peace of God which passes all understanding. The process includes understanding what Christ is about, not just the baby Jesus of the incarnation when spirit takes on flesh, but also Christ the Messiah who died for us so we could transcend the mortal. Christmas particularly looks at the ordering being poured into our lives, and Worship is the response of the ordered to God that we might be pleasing and good. There will be a cup of thanks or two, not so much as drinking God's health but us drinking in our own good health. Salvation does not come about by how many Christmas presents we send out, but by being acceptable to God so that with a nod He may see that we are good. The incarnation continues in us as we take the baby Jesus, the man who eventually went about us doing good and teaching us, and the Christ who died for us, bearer of our sins. We reflect, or, better still, become the person of God in Christ. May your feasting be eucharistic and your thanks a true feast.