Christmas is barely complete without a bishop or a commentator declaring that we have lost sight of the true meaning of this religious festival. But the truth is more interesting: there is an extraordinary continuity in the traditions of this winter celebration. For millennia, it has been a time to feast with family and friends, and the one point in the year when people invest in relationships: the office parties, the school nativity plays, right through to the family Christmas lunch. The festival serves a crucial need.It is a need we too easily neglect, as the Young Foundation’s recent report, Sinking and Swimming, points out. Half a million pensioners will spend Christmas Day alone this year, while a million people say that they have no-one to turn to. The welfare state was developed to ensure a safety net in which material needs were met, but its architects presumed that…
Source: The Guardian
