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with this crew – in every season
Tag Archive: Christmas
I have believed
in things unseen
for as long as I
can remember
I remember fairies,
Borrowers, Father Christmas,
and more…
In the believing
one knows
the power of things unseen
to work to our good,
and the good of others,
whether they believed or not.
The seeds of faith were born here,
among flowers and thimbles,
cycles and stockings,
the seeds of faith were born.
Talitha Fraser
I’m sure this is a time of year when everyone feels a lot of pressure – things to finish off before the end of the year, things to do, people to see, the quandary between the things I think/feel and the things I think I’m supposed to think/feel at this time of year…
I couldn’t sleep last night so I got up and started baking, found something soothing in following basic instructions, getting my hands dirty, feeling like I was making something – tangible evidence of results from work which I can sometimes be frustrated by not feeling day to day, I knew I was on prayers today but I felt like my head was in such a clamour that even if God were guiding me to some words of inspiration here – I couldn’t hear them.
It’s tempting to want to retreat from everything – get away from the commercialisation and the crowds, and family responsibilities – then my Christmas could be “holy”. But then I’m also running away from the lesson of Incarnation, the enfleshing of God —the lesson that we who are followers of Jesus don’t run from the secular stuff; but rather we try to transform it.
a book called…
The Whisper of Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . Joe E. Pennel, Jr., Nashville, Upper Room, 1984, p. 61
says “There is no evidence of any kind regarding the date of Jesus’ birth. His nativity began to be celebrated on Dec. 25 in Rome during the early part of the fourth century (AD 336) as a Christian counterpart to the pagan festival, popular among the worshipers of Mithras, called Sol Invictis, the Unconquerable Sun. At the very moment when the days are the shortest and darkness seems to have conquered light, the sun passes its nadir. Days grow longer, and although the cold will only increase for quite a long time, the ultimate conquest of winter is sure. This astronomical process is a parable of the career of the Incarnate One. At the moment when history is blackest, and in the least expected and obvious place, the Son of God is born…”
…a wiry tree growing up strong in a place where a tree shouldn’t be
Invite you to take something from the plate and to find something sustaining in something simple and home made, to smell the ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate.
I thought we could sit in silence, however you feel comfortable, and just “be”… after a minute or two, I’m going to play something instrumental – invite you to slow your breathing…. let everything that’s in your head, everything going on, rise up and then let it go… I invite you to be open to the advent of God.
Perhaps try and recapture some of the wonder… mystery… and believing in fragile miracles that can make this time of year meaning-full and transforming for us. Once the music is going feel free to light a candle, or speak prayers aloud if you like…
Wominjeka, Haere mai, Maliu mai, Dynnargh… w elcome our God of wonder…
itellyouarise 