Sharing some thoughts

Today in the church calendar we celebrate the Presentation of Christ in the Temple , often known as Candlemas . It was Jewish ritual that a new child be brought to the Temple where the  parents would offer a sacrifice , and a first- born child would be dedicated to God.  There is a huge amount going on in the gospel reading (Luke 2:22-40) this morning. There is the obedience to the Jewish rituals, the comment that Mary and Joseph brought a pair of turtle doves or pigeons, suggesti ng they couldn’t afford a lamb, and of course t here are the incredibly prophetic words of Simeon who sees Jesus and knows immediately that he has seen the Messiah, the one who has come into the wor ld to change everything.  And then there was Anna – an old lady who we are told was a prophet.  Anna  was dedicated to prayer and worship and when she saw Jesus, she knew, like Simeon, that salvation was on offer and she went and praised God, and, very significantly, told other peo...

Monday this week was apparently the most depressing day of the year according to some researchers – apparently it’s the day when people recognize that Christmas is well and truly over, they realise how much money they’ve spent over the Christmas period and many people are back in work with no immediate holidays to look forward to…. And the end of the Christmas period can feel a bit like that… It’s as if the incredible build up was leading to something that was a one-off occasion and it’s now over, but Christmas in reality is never over – it is a wonderful reminder of the grace and love of God as Jesus came into the world. I’ve quoted before I think the line from ‘A Christmas Carol’ when the transformed Scrooge says, ‘I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year…’ Like Scrooge, I think Christmas is something we need to live out throughout the year… If Christmas is the end of things or only something we do once a year we run the risk of ignoring what followed...

After returning from Church one Sunday a small boy said to his mother, ‘I’ve decided that when I grow up I’m going to be a Vicar’. The mother replied that that was very nice, and asked him why he had decided that. The boy replied, ‘Well I have to go to Church on a Sunday anyway, and I think it would be a lot more fun to stand up and talk than to sit down and listen’ ! This morning’s readings are largely about calling, and about responding to a call, whatever that call may be. In the Old Testament we hear of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-10) hearing a voice which he assumes is that of Eli. Eventually Eli realises that the voice Samuel is hearing is the voice of God, and Samuel responds with the words, ‘Speak for your servant is listening’. Even the Psalm (139:1-11) this morning follows the theme of calling, as we realise the protection of God is all around us. In the Psalm we are given the sense of how God knows us absolutely perfectly – he knows every little detail about us. There is that s...

Today we celebrate the Feast of Epiphany, the day on which we remember the Magi visiting the baby Jesus and bringing him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We know the story well, so well that perhaps we can take it for granted and not think of the lessons it offers us…  Actually we know very little about the Magi – we don’t really know how many of them there were, or even whether they were men – although as they have taken on the title of ‘Wise’ I suspect that they were male rather than female !!!.... Some may disagree….  But regardless of how little we know of the Magi they represent an important part of Christian history... They were the early evidence of people searching from other lands and other backgrounds for the Saviour who is Jesus. The gifts they brought were a little strange for a baby – I suspect many parents or grandparents would have strange looks if thy brought such gifts for a child today but those gifts brought by the Magi were gifts that repre...