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A faith that points

There are moments in life when something catches our attention, perhaps it’s a story, a person, an experience, and we find ourselves thinking that we need to look a bit closer…Sometimes it’s because we’re searching for meaning, sometimes because we’re longing for hope and sometimes because something within us suggests that there is more to life than what we’ve settled for. And very often God begins his work in us simply by inviting us to look again. Life, as we know, is full of ups and downs, successes and disappointments, moments of clarity and moments of confusion. We achieve things that go unnoticed, and at other times we seem to do very little and people call it a triumph. Success means different things to different people, but whatever form it takes, we should want to celebrate it. We point to people who make a difference, whether that difference is real or only perceived. In today’s gospel reading (John 1:29–42), something very similar is happening. John the Baptist has been prea...
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Christmas: Too big for one day

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  Christmas is a funny time of year. It can seem like something that we look forward to, or perhaps dread, for a couple of months in advance and then, when it comes, it’s over in no time at all.   Christmas Day seems the pinnacle as we often try to pack so much into the day – we might go to church, either for a midnight service on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning, we might give and receive presents, eat a big dinner, try and get in a bit of a sleep after dinner (!) and spend time with family and/ or friends. For some though the day will be one of reflection, spent quietly, but one which remains poignant, special in some way.  But in the church calendar, we have a lot more than just the one day to reflect on Christmas, recognising that the magnitude of the event can’t and shouldn’t be crammed into one day.  In fact, Charles Dickens, who obviously had nothing at all to do with writing the church calendar, offered an important message about Christmas (Scrooge in...
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The work of Christmas….

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  There’s an old story from Communist Russia about a famous weatherman named Rudolf. He was known far and wide as Rudolf the Red , and his forecasts were legendary. If he said it would rain, it rained. If he said it would snow, it snowed. If he said the sun would shine, you could safely hang your washing out. One evening, despite clear skies, Rudolf announced that a violent storm was coming. His wife disagreed. “There isn’t a cloud within ten miles,” she said. “It’s been the most beautiful day we’ve ever had. It is not going to rain.” But Rudolf insisted. “If I say it will rain, it will rain.” They argued all evening, went to bed cross with each other… and sure enough, overnight the heavens opened and the village flooded. The next morning, as they looked outside, Rudolf’s wife sighed and said, “Alright, you were right again. But how did you know?” Rudolf smiled and said, “You see… Rudolf the Red knows rain, dear .” Christmas is a time for many things—carols, candles, family, f...
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The world changes

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  There’s a moment on Christmas Eve when everything seems to hush. The lights dim, the bustle slows, and something in us moves forward. We’ve heard this story so many times—Mary and Joseph, the journey, the stable, the manger—but tonight it feels different. Tonight we’re not just remembering a story; we’re stepping into it. We’re standing on holy ground, in that thin place where heaven bends low to earth. Because Christmas Eve is a threshold. It’s the moment before the dawn breaks. The moment when hope is held in the quiet, like a candle cupped in the hands. It is the stillness before the song begins, the pause before the angels speak, the breath before the world changes forever. And into that quiet, God comes. Not with fanfare. Not with power. Not with the kind of glory we might expect. But with vulnerability. With smallness. With the cry of a newborn child. God who shaped galaxies chooses to be wrapped in cloths. God who spoke creation into being chooses to learn how to spea...
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