Beat the Christmas stress in church

Going to church on Christmas Day isn't a guaranteed remedy to Christmas stress. It's certainly not the only one. But it does help.

The worst thing about Christmas is the sheer inevitable machinery. It's Christmas so we [delete as appropriate] have to eat brussell sprouts / visit the relatives / go to some ghastly fun-enforced party ... and so on. A service on Christmas Day won't solve any of those, but it will help to give a bit of context. Maybe make you feel there's something worth celebrating. It will strip away the modern trappings of Santa et al and get you down to the basics. Listen carefully to the words of the carols and you'll get the whole Christmas message, encapsulated into soundbite form.

You also get some structure to the day, something to work around, and best of all, it's all someone else's problem. For a couple of hours that morning, there is not a single thing you can do to change how the rest of the day will proceed. So put your feet up and let someone else do the work. And for those precious couple of hours, the kids will be physically distanced from presents, food and drink. If you find a church with a good creche, they can be someone else's problem too. For a couple of hours.

Of course, for some people the whole going-to-church thing may be part of the mechanical process. Well, you have to be selective. If the church wants you there then it's the church's job to make itself attractive. So, if your church is cold and uncomfortable and the services are long and boring and incomprehensible, vote with your feet and try another. They don't all have to be like that. Ours isn't ...

Getting the right church may require some reconnaissance beforehand, so why not be well prepared for Christmas 2006 by starting in January?