In Japan, it is xmas eve that is celebrated rather than the day itself. December decoration and glitz provides a backdrop for perfectly wrapped presents, confused adverts suggesting a `very very xmas`, decorated trees presented as `light shows`, and cover versions of once familiar hits where the promise to jingle bells sound oddly out of place.
Lines outside KFC for roast chicken, lines for xmas cake at the supermarket, families feasting on sushi before midnight; and then, on the day itself, nothing. It is as though the whole thing exists only for the ritual of its arrival. The country feels like an xmas tourist. There is an innocence and restraint about the whole affair, a sense of family fun that often seems absent in our excesses back home; and also more integrity in the reading of sutras for ancestors before presents and wine.
Still, the deeper reality sits outside in the everyday passing and joining of things. Everyone here waits for the turning of the year. This afternoon, someone rings my door to deliver an xmas cake, having heard that I had failed to buy one last night. The most genuine gestures come from the heart.
Meanwhile, I am excited by the news that Chance for Change has released its website. There is no greater present than the promise of discovery– and C4C is that present and promise. The charity is in its first intrepid steps. There is the excitement of who the young people will be to take up the chance, what change together they can create, and how advantaged thinking will break new ground. Only the possible lies ahead.
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