As I contemplate Christmas shopping from the relative peace of the Vicarage sofa, I see an advert in which the camera portrays a street scene in which the shoppers move from sedate shopping to frantic buying, ending up trampling over each other to get to the gifts before shelves empty and time runs out. Maybe the advertisers hadn't bargained for the harsh economic news churned out by the media every day- falling house prices and increased interest rates, economic meltdown described as global credit crunch, a gift worthy of the Christmas grinch himself hiding away somewhere in Hollywood! Maybe those who run our economy, nationally and globally, after all we all five in what, we are told, is a global village, are getting what they deserve and its pay back time.

Unfortunately it's the likes of me and you that suffer the consequences, why is it despite our best efforts we alt seem to have less and less of our own money to spend and yet as Christmas approaches everyone is shouting at us to spend more if we really want to be happy and have the Christmas we deserve! All the news of economic doom and gloom is enough to send a seasonal shiver down many a spine, not just the poor man who was spotted by King Wenceslas when he looked out from his castle window!

Perhaps like Northern Rock customers we should just withdraw any savings we have and spend the lot. If we really believe the media, things can only get worse so one last big spend... and yet like the price of oil, share prices just keep on rising. Does anyone know why? Perhaps it's a cunning plot on the part of the economic scare mongers to get us to hot only spend more, but borrow more too. Tell people credit card applications are being turned down and they will try harder to get one – use the card to buy that expensive gift and spending goes up and so does inflation and then we are rewarded with more punitive interest rates. May be we'll all end up gathering our winter fuel, not because we want to go green but because we can't afford to pay our gas and electric bills.

BUT hey it’s Christmas, why be miserable? Its time to unpack that festive cheer, time for the church to dust down those crib figures and carol sheets and celebrate! No expensive gifts to purchase, rather at Christmas we celebrate a never changing feast that does not make a god of money and measure human happiness in terms of the number of twinkling lights on our Christmas trees or the size of the pile of gifts wrapped beneath it. No we have a man and a woman, Mary and Joseph, having a bit of an economic struggle themselves, travelling to Bethlehem to see the tax inspector- never mind that Mary is heavily pregnant! No travel lodge with reasonably priced family rooms, no room at the inn I They end up in a stable, and then the best gift of all a new human life, a baby, and not just the standard version, this is deluxe, Jesus Christ, son of God, a gift not just for the proud Mum and Dad, for this one is saviour of the world!

May the Christ Child bless all your homes this Christmas