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Good morning Christmas is a time for family we are told, which meant, when I was growing up, that by the 20th December my two brothers and I were on full alert for the arrival of our two widowed grandmothers who would stay with us – one in the small front bedroom over the garage, the other in the small back bedroom overlooking the garden. Our role was to run between the two, gathering and giving information. ‘When’s SHE getting up’ – one grandmother would say, about the other ‘What’s SHE giving me for Christmas?’ It was a thrilling introduction to the art of diplomacy, tinged with rivalry, as bribes were sometimes involved. In every family there are tensions and Christmas is often a time when long held differences burst out afresh and can make for painful clashes over the mince pies. Children do not always turn out the way their parents expect or hope. Siblings compete with each other, argue and sulk. Jealousy and envy lurk among the holly and the candles. A biologist might observe that we are all the product of our genes. Our physical and mental strengths and susceptibilities are mixed and repackaged in every generation. Whether we like it or not we are breeding animals and new combinations of genes refresh the human stock. You can see it as nature’s game to ensure diversity. A revolt against family expectations may reflect a rebel streak generations back. We may think we are expressing our unique individuality when we are actually recycling our ancestors. ‘We do not yet know what we will be, as one of the New Testament letters puts it, implying that the call of God comes from the future. Our true human vocation is to improvise on what our genes have made of us, to make the choices that make us who we are. Much may be predetermined but there is also freedom to rebel, conform or find a way between the two. Many of us carry a sense of being flawed which goes with a striving for healing. We know in our own personalities what Christian theology calls original sin, but we also know that sometimes it is that very flaw which drives us to fulfilment. The Bible is full of dysfunctional families – jealousies, strife, adulteries, rebellion. The first chapter of St Matthew’s gospel is a long and at first sight, baffling description of the genealogy of Jesus. When you look at it closely you discover it contains all sorts of irregularities: foreigners, prostitutes and the children of adulterous relationships. Yet from this rebellious and sometimes poisonous mix, in the fullness of time, the Messiah is born.