A Reflection from Rosi MorganBarry

We’re nearly there!  Four more days to Christmas.  There is probably a sense of anxiety particularly among those responsible for the Christmas dinner about whether everything needed is in the freezer/ fridge/ store cupboard, and if not, whether there is still time to do a bit more shopping.  Or maybe there is anxiety about whether we have remembered to send a card to dear old Aunt Betty.

But in all the preparations for fun and feasting aren’t we forgetting the ‘why’ of Christmas?  What are we truly celebrating?  The birth of a child to a poor couple, but one whose paternity was in grave doubt at first.  We know the story.  Luke tells us of a young woman, engaged to be married, who receives news of an unexpected pregnancy.  This is unwelcome and troubling news at first, but Mary comes not only to accept it, but also to rejoice in it.  Joseph also, as Matthew recounts, is disturbed by the news and wants to end his relationship with his fiancée.  But he too was reassured and accepted his role as foster father, one he carried out with kindliness.

We are celebrating the story of Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ parents for his young years on earth, giving thanks for their acceptance of strangely disturbing news and their care of the child Jesus, who grew up to be the Lord and Saviour of us all.  As we celebrate them let us also give thanks and pray for all who have the care of children.

Rosi MorganBarry

from Rev Wes Hampton

Waiting can be tedious.  We have so many experiences of unwelcome waiting – for the delivery which will arrive sometime in a four hour window, for the three-way traffic lights that turned red just as we approached them, and so on.  They are just my experiences of the last few days; you can add plenty of your own.

We do not want to be made to wait, for it feels like time is being wasted while we cannot do anything else.  Yet we know that if waiting a little means that our query can be answered correctly, or that we shall get to see the doctor who understands our problem, then the waiting might seem like a reasonable price to pay.  Until the wait is over, however, we do not know if that will be so.

The season of Advent is a time of waiting.  The decorations in the shops and lights in people’s windows tell us that many are racing towards Christmas.  We get caught up in the headlong rush, even though we know that Advent reminds us that God’s preparation for the first coming of his Son went on for centuries.

Every year we tell ourselves that Advent is a reflection of God’s preparation.  As such, it involves a lot of waiting.  This is not the futile waiting that annoys us and tries our patience, but the waiting that allows us to find God in the hustle and bustle of our days.

RS Thomas, in his poem Kneeling, says:

Prompt me, God.
But not yet.  When I speak
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.

May we, during these days of Advent, find the meaning in the waiting and, when Christmas comes, find the meaning in the celebration.

Wes

A Reflection from Chris Rooke-Matthews

A lifetime ago, or so it seems, I was training to teach in a beautiful area of West Yorkshire.  The college was situated in the grounds of an old mansion house, on the edge of a village, and boasted a large lake and woodland.  We were able to make good use of this setting for practical (college) work, but also using the surroundings for relaxation, building strong friendships along the way.

One of the ideals often mentioned by our tutors was a saying from Confucius:

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Working In a variety of education settings, and raising our own family, I have found this to be the key to engaging learners of all ages and abilities, but the older I became the more I realised the truth of the first two phrases.

I have now become an expert ‘forgetter’, but can remember things about people and places when I see them, which I could not do just by hearing a name.  However, I still find joy in following the last phrase! 

I wonder if the disciples, following Jesus’ teaching, felt the same, as they came to meet and know their friend, and finally understand and share his message.

from Rev Wes Hampton

We have come to Advent, a season in which we prepare to celebrate the coming to earth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and when we make ourselves ready for his return in days to come.  During this time, we are reminded of the work done over centuries ahead of Jesus’ birth, and are challenged to anticipate his second coming in the way that we live.

This year the Methodist Church has launched a series of materials for Advent and Christmas under the title “Gifted”.  The theme encourages us to look for the gifts in others and in ourselves, and to think of each one as a gift to each other.  Do you know people who need to be reassured that they are a gift to us, and so have intrinsic value?  There are always people ready to criticize and to tell others that they are worthless, but we believe that all people are created by God with the potential to live life in all its fulness.

The church community is also intended to be a gift to others.  Church is the body of those committed to follow Jesus and, as such, should always be bringing that love and grace we see in Christ to those among whom we live.  At its best, church is a gift to our community and our environment.

At the heart of our life as the church, is our recognition that Jesus Christ is the greatest gift.  All our other gifts are pointers to him.  He has been given freely out of God’s love for the world, and so our hope is that other people will receive that gift for themselves.  Both the church community, and Christ himself, are gifts that we offer to our neighbours all year round, but this time of year may give us extra opportunities.

The prayers with which we shall light our Advent candles each Sunday will reflect this theme: may our witness do so as well.

Wes