Published by The Spectator

Distilling your Christmas favourites into a succinct playlist is like trying to cram the creator of the universe into a manger – not entirely impossible, but it needs a bit of thought and planning. Just as the Christ-child had to surrender aspects of divinity, a playlist must compromise somewhere. But kenosis is traumatic. What goes? The Pogues? That’s easy enough. Mariah Carey? That’ll upset Fraser. Cliff? Oh, steady on. And yet it’s terribly difficult contemplating the eternal wonder of the birth of the Son of God with Cliff at Christmas ringing in your ears. Buried beneath the glitz and tinsel we so easily lose sight of the baby born in a stable 2000 years ago. So I’ve included a healthy dose of theological orthodoxy in this list, along with happy memories of Christmases past. Continue reading →