Looking back to my childhood, I can see that this was what Alice did for me. I loved the thought of plunging down a rabbit hole and falling into a new world, or pushing through a mirror on the wall and stepping into topsy-turvy-dom. In those imaginary places, the laws of normal life didn\u2019t apply any more. Nothing was what it seemed. And yet it didn\u2019t feel any the less real. In some ways, these worlds of fiction seemed almost tangible, populated by characters you got to know. Yes, in the end Alice has to wake up from her dream. But her journey has changed her. And those of us who travel with her.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t reckon it\u2019s fanciful to think about Christmas in this kind of way. It\u2019s a time of year when we not only dream about a kinder, fairer, better world, but even dare to try living it out. How? By thinking of other people through Christmas greetings, the presents we give as symbols of our love and care, noticing the needs of others far and near and responding with compassion. We long for a new start for our world, our society, ourselves and those we care for. And in small ways, we enter into the spirit of that new beginning.<\/p>\n
These are the dreams, the hopes, the vision embodied in the Child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.<\/p>\n