There is a magical quality to Christmas that we conjure up when we tell the Christmas Story with all the captivating details of angels bringing God's messages, the baby born in a stable, and the visit of the shepherds and the wise men. Its a magic that can bring out the best in people, and encourages us to be generous to those less fortunate than us, and to reach out a hand of forgiveness to people who we've fallen out with. For a short time we reach for a better world of greater kindness and greater togetherness, and it seems that the build-up to Christmas and the paraphernalia of presents and feasting play an important part in creating that Christmas magic.

But its important to be aware that many of the magical elements to the Christmas story are not in the Bible narrative but have been built up by tradition over the years. Only two (Matthew and Luke) of the four gospels say anything at all about Jesus birth - Mark and John make no mention of it at all. There is no mention of a stable in either Matthew or Luke - Matthew has Jesus born in the house in Bethlehem, Luke's reference to the "inn" is in fact better translated as "guest room". Neither of them mentions a donkey, and nowhere are we told there were three wise men (Matthew simply states "wise men from the East ...").

In fact the accounts of Jesus's birth are meant to convey how ordinary it was. Jesus was born to a very ordinary peasant girl, in slightly tawdry-seeming circumstances which nearly prevented her marriage to her fiance, and the birth took place in the most basic of the typical homes of the day - either Mary & Joseph's own home, or even in the over-crowded relative's house they stayed in when they traveled for the registration in Bethlehem, which had no space for them in the guest room.

It's not that we should ditch the magic, but it is important to hang on to the ordinariness as well. Because the message of Christmas is that God comes to us as an ordinary baby in very ordinary circumstances, and this is what leads to the salvation of the world. While we live in very uncertain times, and are acutely aware of the violence and destruction being inflicted on people in many parts of the world, it is easy to think that peace and harmony can only be restored by powerful forces at work in high places far removed from the lives of ordinary people. The Christmas Story however tells us that the good news of great joy for all people comes to us in the very ordinary circumstances of very ordinary people.

We do not need powerful forces to restore peace, harmony and justice to our world. All we need is for ordinary people to bring the magic of Christmas into their ordinary lives - to behave generously to those in need, to reach out the hand of friendship to the marginalised, and to offer forgiveness to those who have injured us.

It is in how we live our ordinary lives that together we can build up a world of justice and peace. Let us pray that in this way the magic of Christmas is born into our hearts again this year.