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Good morning and Happy New Year from the homeland of Auld Lang Syne. And to those Scots who dared to cross the border on Hogmanay, I' m not sure whether to say 'Welcome Home' or ' Don't do it again.' Perhaps both.

My ambivalence comes from a fear that yet another public holiday is becoming little more than a feast of consumption.

New Year, certainly in Scotland – and in many other countries – shares common characteristics with the religious festivals of Christmas, Eid, Diwali and Passover. These are times more for being than having, more for giving than taking, more for community than consumption. People don't flock to
crowded venues where they pay to be entertained in the company of strangers. They visit each other’s houses, share each other's food, listen to each other’s stories..and in doing so endorse their connectedness and their shared humanity.

Being with others is important even when, like me, you live alone; or when circumstances as at present restrict our movement. Though purchasing may bring with it a novel frisson, it is neither as informative or endearing as the companionship of friends. I might miss what I once bought, but I would never grieve over a lost purchase as I would over a lost friend.

Sometimes people look askance when I say that Jesus would be better depicted as a man with a forty four inch waistline rather than as a skinny ascetic. I say this because there is evidence in the Gospels that he is found dining with other people on over 20 occasions. And each time the focus is not on personal consumption but on the shared experience of relating in conversation, curiosity and friendship with those around him.

It was around tables that he saw what it was like to be very wealthy and to be very marginalised. It was in conversation with women that he found illustrations for teaching which men could not supply. It was in the experience of shared meals that he could chew over the issues of the day.

I dearly hope that in this New Year, when there will doubtless be incentives from every commercial enterprise for consumers to purchase, that we might consider buying better and sharing more; to which end I have already affixed a sign on my front door, evident only on leaving. It says: Every day, give something away.

Have a very happy and hospitable new year.

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