A Summer Christmas
I have never had a summer Christmas. Christmas to me has lots of snow, dark nights, cozy living rooms with Christmas lights on the tree, decorations, and maybe a blizzard or two. Two years ago, while traveling New Zealand, I had the opportunity to experience a New Zealand Christmas. It wasn't so different from Christmas in Canada, really. Except that there was no snow. I had a difficult time accepting that fact. While living in Wellington I attended Arise Church in Wellington. ( www. arisechurch .org.nz/ ) This church was very accepting of, and welcoming to, people from all walks of life. Church staff realized that there were quite a few people in the congregation that had nowhere to go for Christmas. So it was arranged that 'the strays' - travellers, transients, orphans (people who had no family to spend Christmas with etc) - would go to someone's house for Christmas. A sign up sheet was put into the atrium of the Michael Fowler Centre, where Church service