Since mid-October I have been urged to "get ready for Christmas". Magazines, advertising hoardings and newspapers have been telling me that "It is ready to start the Christmas countdown" and, more recently, "The countdown has begun". An email from a national radio station this week announced that they were "revving up for Christmas".
With so much build-up and anticipation, it can seem that the church gets in a little late on all the action. Toddler groups have been practising singing Away in a Manger for weeks and vicars are, even now, wondering what spin they can give the oft-told and familiar story this year.
It is really only this weekend that the church "countdown" can truly be said to begin. The beginning of Advent, with the lighting of candles, declares we are "getting ready". For the next four Sundays churches across the region will light candles marking the approach of Christmas and urge people to "get ready".
But how do we do this? I know that people plan meals, send out party invitations, wrap presents, write cards, visit Santa, put up trees and make to-do lists that get longer and longer as the days pass.
But how do we get ready to celebrate the heart of Christmas? Because however many other things nowadays form part of our Christmas activities, we cannot avoid the real story of Christmas.
An event that seemed insignificant at the time (woman has baby) has to come to resound throughout history. The life, teaching and work of this baby has shaped nations and transformed the lives of millions. Whether we call ourselves believers or not, we will have, somewhere along the way, absorbed something of the values of Jesus of Nazareth.
So how do we fit him into Christmas 2013? Perhaps we can learn from those Bethlehem shepherds. They were told of his birth and then they went to see for themselves. And that was when they discovered that it was just as they had been told. We have heard the story many times. Now we too need to find out for ourselves.
Malc' Halliday is the Centre Manager of the Christian Resources Project Plymouth weekendthought@aol.com