The SNJ’s new columnist Karen Eberhardt-Shelton was born in California but grew up in England.

She now lives in Stroud and is currently working on an education project called Learn, Think, Act and is hoping to develop an eco-community land trust.

Her thought-provoking columns will focus on how we all have to take responsibility for our actions and for our planet.

Christmas – the biggest ‘get more’ time of year.

NOW more than ever, I’m anti-conventional-Christmas because all I see are fake trees, shops full of glitter and non-essential goodies, imitation reindeer galloping toward fake heaven . . . I haven’t come across a single gesture of ‘reaching out’ or offering solace in a stable or around a dining table.

Sure, most of us have a few friends, but ‘family’ takes precedence over inviting ‘outsiders’ into your intimate domain, so there’s a lack of invitations to join in for those on their own and destitute of family connections. I wouldn’t want to show up on the doorstep of the Salvation Army or some big hall welcoming the homeless.

I’d rather share a few appropriate thoughts and sentiments over a helping of Quorn roast (no dead beasties for me, thanks), listen to some gentle carols, and reflect on how this most celebrated day of the year came into being with a handful of like-minded individuals.

As if to confirm my feelings of current-style Christmas representing cultural hypocrisy and counterfeit celebration, I received an email from Martyn Goss, head of Devon Churches Green Action in Exeter; a lovely quiet man I’ve known for years. “Happy Advent everyone, “ he said.

“Let’s be honest: Christmas in Britain today is a messy shambles as a religious occasion...The original story has been almost tinselled to death, is saturated with plastic gifts... and red-robed Santa might be better off called a robbing hood... The frenzy of hysterical shopping is a sharp reminder of Oscar Wilde’s quip that “we know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

“What’s missing is a sense of Christmas as a community occasion that has to do with celebrating our togetherness in society based on a sense of common unity.”

Huh? A ‘community’ occasion here in Stroud, or anywhere these days? I read on the internet that “The commercialisation of Christmas has been lamented since at least the 1850s.” So maybe the industrial revolution ruined it all.

Couldn’t it be arranged so those who feel the need could turn up for a lovely shared meal, lit by lights and a glowing tree in the Old Town Hall? They do this in Frome, Somerset, in the Cheese & Grain, alongside the River Frome, close to the town centre. That’s been going for four years – local shopkeepers donate food and goods, the mayor attends, and it’s so well-supported financially, they’ve already got all the money they need for next year. Big Christmas in Frome. Why can’t we do the same here? Next year, I’ll be counting on that.

Meanwhile, how about a little more giving of our selves? I’m sure Jesus would like that.