Lurline has a habit of leaving a small gap between our bedroom curtains at night. It bothers me, so I usually close the curtains together before I go to sleep. Our room faces the East, and my dear wife likes to wake to the rays of the morning sun (when there is some!).

The curtain gap bothers me, because there is a light outside the back of our house and I prefer to sleep in a completely darkened room. However, today was one day when I didn't bother to close the gap. It is Christmas Day, 2000.

I'd worked on the computer until about 2 am, and then retired to bed. So far, it's been a really wonderful Christmas for me. I've made contact with family members and friends I haven't seen or heard from for years. Returning to church again has been an important event in my life this year. After Lurline and I had been to midnight communion, we came home and she bade me "goodnight" and went upstairs. I busied myself in front of the PC screen.

When I did go to bed myself, (and for some reason, didn't bother to close the curtain gap), I felt truly at peace. Having thanked the Lord for His grace, I drifted off to sleep. At precisely 6.22 am, I awoke again. The red LCD display on my bedside clock bore witness to the time.

I was first aware of the gap between the curtains, but right at the top of that gap, I noticed a very bright star in the still-dark morning sky. I lay there looking at it for some time. Thoughts of Bethlehem and the wise men being led to Jesus' crib came to mind. I'm not particularly hot on astronomy, but I figured that it was probably one of the planets I was looking at, for there were no other stars to be seen.

The star was shimmering. The image before my eyes kept getting larger - then smaller - then larger again. As I became more awake, I reached out to my bedside table and put my glasses on. "Now I'll see it better" I thought. Perhaps the shimmering had something to do with the effect of the condensation on the inside of the window. I got out of bed and wiped the glass with a towel. The star was clearer now, but I couldn't make out any others in the sky.

A few moments later, as I lay back in bed, I began to see other faint stars in the sky. It was reassuring to know that this was no "heavenly vision" but just the beginning of another day in my life. Still, I kept staring at this bright light in the sky and imagined what it must have been like at that very first Christmas.

Ten minutes had passed by now. The time was 6.32. As I gazed upwards, a flashing light moved across my view, passing underneath the star. "That must be Santa's sleigh!" I mused, though I recognised it as the collision warning light on top of some high-flying aircraft.

Totally awake by this time, I decided to get up and made my way downstairs. Snowy, our 8-year-old collie dog, greeted me at the foot of the stairs, anxious to be let out into the garden. I unlocked the back door and he ran out into the yard to stretch his legs and do what dogs normally do in gardens!

The sky had lightened a little, but was clouded over, so there were no more stars to be seen. I smiled and closed the door after Snowy as he trotted back inside the house. Then I put the kettle on for my traditional morning cup of tea.

Going back to the computer, and switching it on, I noticed a video box at the back of the desk. It is a promotional video for a company called Cold Seal, for whom Lurline worked briefly during the summer. She was doing some telephone selling for double glazing. Not an easy job. The company's advertising slogan is "Why no-one else is In the frame". I thought that would be a very apt title for this piece I am writing now.

For the benefit of American or other non-British readers, the phrase "in the frame" is a relatively recent one in this country. It's usually used in police dramas, to mean someone who is under suspicion of a crime. Another interpretation is "to be considered important". I thought that, in view of the connection with windows and my view of the star, it was the right one to use.

However, I had another motive for using that title. For as far as I am concerned, "no-one else is in the frame" can be applied to God. If I were a preacher (I may yet become one!) I think I'd be using it in my messages today. God should be the main focus in our lives.

I'm no evangelist. I am not a Bible scholar, but I AM a Christian. Throughout my life I have tried to see this day of the year, not as just an excuse for lavish eating and drinking (though I shall be doing a good amount of that too!). The simple story of a young couple bringing a baby into the world in a stable in the ancient Middle East has always been important to me.

I'll bet many of the people who, just a few hours ago, were fighting their way around the stores doing last-minute Christmas shopping didn't realise that God was with them. They didn't know that God was watching them choosing gifts and plain old household necessities. God is indeed everywhere. Whether you acknowledge Him or not, he IS there.

God sent His only son Jesus to be with us on Earth two thousand years ago. He is the father and the mother of us all, and He is the Holy Spirit that ordains our lives, for better or worse. He is of course Jesus Christ himself - God in three persons. The Jesus who started his life in humble surroundings and died an agonising death on the cross, in total innocence of any wrongdoing, in the name of us all.

On this, the birthday of our Lord Jesus, I am writing this message in the hope that you may find that strength of faith and the true happiness that comes when you open your heart to God. Wherever you are in the world today, may you experience the magic of Christmas Day!