Sharing some thoughts

The comments of children sometimes are wonderful. We can all probably think of a funny story to do with something a child has said – a while ago I remember a 3 year old telling Helen that she looked a mess in the morning !! I, of course, would obviously dispute that (at least until she’s made my breakfast in the morning !) There’s also the great children’s letters to God – I’m a bit sad perhaps but I never tire of hearing things like, ‘Dear God, Did you mean to make giraffes look like that, or was it an accident ?’ or ‘Dear God, I keep waiting for a nice summer day, but it hasn’t come – did you forget ?’ or just one more, ‘Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms – it works for me and my brother.’ Children's words are often profound and today in the gospel reading we hear the only recorded words of Jesus as a child (Luke 2:41-52). As a 12 year old after his parents had visited Jerusalem for the Passover festival Jesus was lost

One of the most popular Christmas stories is ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. There is one scene in it where the Ghost of Christmas Past has just paid a rather unnerving visit to Ebenezer Scrooge. Clearly the old man is shaken by the entire ordeal. But when he awakens from his sleep does he take the message to heart ? No, he simply dismisses it by saying: Bah, humbug, it wasn't real – in fact he puts the episode down to indigestion as he mutters to himself, "Just a bit of last nights undigested beef," he says to himself, "There is more gravy about you than the grave." As we found out though in the rest of the book – the episodes were real for Scrooge and his life was eventually transformed for the better… And that word transformation is a huge part of Christmas… Somewhere around 350 years after Jesus was born Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus – it wasn’t a big festival at the time and I wonder who could ha

For many people religious or not, listening to and singing carols remains an important part of Christmas. There is a comfort and a peace in the words of so many of them. And that comfort and peace that Jesus came to bring and which we so often sing about is a comfort and peace we are called to share. The shooting in Connecticut a week last Friday has rightly sent waves of disbelief and horror across the world. The debates have begun again over the use of guns in America and a great political argument seems to be looming… But what is far more important at this point is just to think about the loss of life of those barely out of nursery with so much to live for – it seems almost incomprehensible. The question has understandably once again been asked how God can let this sort of thing happen. When faced with such a question my honest answer would have to be I don’t know. In many ways I think those who try to offer a reason are a little bit foolish or naïve… I think that on occasion

This morning I want to think about the words we recited earlier known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). The words are very well known to all who attend evensong as they are included at every service. These are the words of Mary after she has been told that she is to give birth to Jesus. It’s a remarkable set of words for a young lady, and it’s worth just remembering the position she had found herself in. Here was a girl probably in her early to mid teens who was engaged to be married to a local carpenter who was probably quite a lot older than her, and she received a vision that she was to give birth. Whilst she may have had little doubt about the reality of that vision and of the virgin birth, she must also have known and feared what people around her would have been thinking. The disgrace and shame she had brought on her family would only have been part of the problem – for her, if she escaped a literal death sentence, life may just as well have been over because she would have

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 to an extent back me up on this one – it is not a time of partying and festivities.., it is a season of expectation and reflection - that is until today ! Today is often known as ‘Gaudette Sunday’, in other wo

I’m sure it won’t come as any great surprise to any of you if I tell you that I was as a baby very well behaved, which of course I am today as well ! I didn’t cry very much at all and I listened when people spoke to me or made the sort of funny noises people often make to babies and I smiled quite a lot of the time too ! I responded well when people made noises – I’m no great scientist but I know that sounds are heard in many special ways – often people will talk to children before they’re born and the unborn child often moves as a response;  or playing music can sometimes calm down a child kicking in their mothers tummy. Words and sounds can make a big difference and that is something that  was well known around the time of our gospel reading today (Luke 3:1-6). The Jewish people had relied on prophets sharing the word of God with them for many years and the words of these prophets had been shared down from generation to generation, but it seemed that God had been silent for aro