Rev Julie Guest
It’s been a big weekend for Christmas lovers in Te Awamutu with two evenings of carol singing with the Te Awamutu Brass and Talos, at Pirongia and Kihikihi, along with the Te Awamutu Christmas parade. Things are hotting up aren’t they, in both the weather sense, and the retailing sense? There’s the “busy” buzz around Te Awamutu with increased traffic, playgrounds and cafes full as shopping and markets draw more people into town.
A full line up of floats, following a Christmas Movie theme, entertained the crowds lining Alexandra Street in Te Awamutu on Saturday. Along with the movie theme there were stilt walkers, dogs on parade, emergency service crews, gleaming American cars, Falun Gong spreading its message, big farming vehicles and the pipe and brass bands.
Rev Julie Guest
This is also the season of end-of-year break ups, ballet and music recitals, and of course, staff functions. All these are designed to showcase and honour work that has been achieved over the course of the year. Whilst we might lump this in with Christmas business, it is purely a function of our Southern Hemisphere seasons, and nothing to do with Christmas at all. But in one sense there is a connection, in that we honour achievement and uphold all that is good in our society.
So there’s an interesting contrast happening. On one hand, we have the commercial buzz – the rush to get gifts sorted, the packed car parks, the frantically busy retail workers managing the Christmas surge. It’s transactional busy-ness, measured in sales and shopping bags. But alongside this, often unnoticed, is a different kind of busy-ness altogether.
When the Fire Brigade recently honoured its long-serving members, they weren’t celebrating transactions. They were recognising years of 3am callouts, of running toward danger while others run away, of sacrifice that can’t be measured on a till receipt. The same is true for our St John volunteers, our community patrol members, our sports coaches who give up their Saturdays, and the countless others who keep Te Awamutu not just running, but caring.
What motivates this second kind of busy-ness? It’s certainly not the December sales spike or the promise of a bonus. Many of these servants work quietly all year, with no fanfare, no end-of-year function, no public recognition. Yet they keep showing up.
I believe many of them carry, consciously or not, the principle Jesus taught: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” It’s a call to a way of life where service flows from something deeper than obligation or recognition – it flows from genuine care for the wellbeing of others.
The irony of Christmas is that while we’ve turned it into the busiest shopping season of the year, the story itself is about the opposite of commercial transaction. It’s about God choosing to serve humanity in the humblest way imaginable – born in a stable, laid in a feeding trough.
As we navigate these busy weeks ahead, it’s worth asking ourselves: which kind of busy-ness are we caught up in? Are we merely transacting our way through December, ticking off shopping lists and social obligations? Or are we, like those honoured firefighters and countless other servants in our community, busy with something more transformational – the quiet, consistent work of loving our neighbours?
The shopping frenzy will end on December 26, or 27, or 31… the decorations will come down. The crowds will thin. But the true spirit of Christmas – that call to love and serve others – that’s meant to keep Te Awamutu ticking all year round. Perhaps that’s the real gift we can give this season: not just presents under a tree, but presence in our community, motivated by the enduring truth that we’re called to love others as we love ourselves.
