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Showing posts from December, 2009

Rejoice !

Oliver Wendell Holmes was a member of the United States Supreme Court for 30 years. At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained he may have chosen a different career but said: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers." Now, I like advent a lot – it’s a chance to be really solemn before Christmas, a chance to suggest to people that they shouldn’t be partying and enjoying themselves so much, but should in fact being spending time thinking about their eternal destiny and how God is viewing their lives – this sometimes leads to accusations that I’m a bit of a Scrooge – these accusations often come from very close to home as well !! However the readings and the meaning of the season of advent generally back me up on this one – it is not a time of partying and festivities.., that is until today ! Today is often known as ‘Gaudette Sunday’, in other words, ‘Rejoicing Sunday’, and in the readings we notice

Prepare the way...

This week I had a rather strange experience. On Tuesday I went to do some hospital visiting and as I arrived in the foyer, there were some dignitaries there obviously ready to perform some sort of ceremony. Also within this group was the Hospital Chaplain who I needed to speak to and so, as they were only just getting things ready, I thought I would pop over and talk to him. Whilst talking to him, I heard my name being given to the reporter that was there as one of the people that was attending this ceremony. That was fine, except I didn’t even know what it was all about ! By this stage the photographer had begun to ask us to get into our places for the photo, and you can imagine it was now pretty difficult to get away, and so I squeezed in next to a couple of nurses and smiled for my photo. If it appears in the Gazette and you see it, you will know that I was an imposter ! However it did lead me to find out more about what was going on and it turned out that this was the launch of an

Great and amazing

There’s a book about the World's Worst Predictions and it lists some of history's all-time prophetic disasters, such as the fact that King George II said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution, or an official of the White Star Line, famously speaking of the firm's newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable. Or, in 1939 The New York Times said that the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn't have time for it… Many people have come up with great prophecies and looked very silly when the moment passed and the prophecy was not fulfilled. The Book of Isaiah is one of the best known of the Old Testament books – and it’s not surprising as the book contains 121 prophecies which all came true in the life of Jesus. Added to that it is, apart from the Book of Psalms, the most quoted Old Testament Book in the New Testament. And when we think

Advent 2009

There’s a car sticker I’ve seen which I thought was quite amusing – it read, ‘Look busy, Jesus is coming back’… But of course, amusing though it may be, there is an element of truth here. Jesus has promised that he will return to earth one day, and at that time the world as we know it will end and the kingdom of God will be completed. None of us know the day or hour, although you can usually find someone with a banner telling you on most main City streets !! But, none of us actually know, and it is a waste of time to try and work it out, because God never intended us to know ! Advent is one of the most misunderstood seasons of the Church calendar – looking forward to Christmas we often confuse it with secular preparations and lots of festivities, and that’s probably inevitable, but in the Church calendar it is a solemn time of anticipation, both of the celebration of the birth of Christ, and of his coming again. The colours in the Church change to purple, the only other season that is