Dear Friends
Christmas is coming. At this time of year people often ask, "Are you nearly ready for Christmas?" The questions is often about Christmas shopping, getting the cards written and posted, preparing or buying all that extra food. When I am asked if I'm getting ready for Christmas I am never quite sure whether the question is about plans for Church services or preparations on the domestic front. The latter can be left a bit longer, but the Church preparations have to start early. So many people are involved. Singers, musicians and handbell ringers practise for weeks before taking part in services. People who arrange flowers and decorate churches have to start planning in plenty of time. There are numerous practical jobs that need to be done, and the more people there are involved, the more important it is to get started early.
So with all this going on it takes the pressure off when the tasks are shared. One task that is now being shared among the clergy in the South Notts Cluster is the monthly letter for the magazine. It makes quite a difference not having to compose a letter every month. I know some people are not so keen on the clergy taking it in turns, whilst others appreciate the fresh viewpoint that a different member of the Cluster team can offer. Personally, I enjoy reading the letters written by my clergy colleagues. This month Glenn has given us some food for thought, so do read his letter and ponder its message.
As for me, while the various preparations for Christmas are in progress, I am aware once again that long, long before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, God had been preparing the world for the coming of his Son. We think about that in Advent as we remember the Patriarchs, the Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary the Mother of Jesus. These are key characters in the Bible, people who had a special part to play in God's plans and preparations. During Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we also think of God's plan that one day Christ will return to judge the world and to establish his perfect rule of justice and peace.
In the midst of your plans and preparations, as you get ready to celebrate Christmas, may you ponder the deeper meaning of the season.
I wish you love, joy and peace this Christmas and always.
Glynis Hetherington.
Saturday, 21 November 2009
December 2009 Vol. 31 No. 12
The Reverend Glenn Martin writes:
Dear Friends
Christmas is always a great time of the year especially for children, and at least for most people!!
However, for some Christmas is a sad and lonely time. Perhaps bereavement, loneliness, financial insecurity, ill health, immobility, can all play a part in making Christmas a tough time for some.
Of course Christmas is glamorised on the television, in shops, etc. and many who don't feel that glamour feel isolated, remote and dispirited by the season.
We perhaps have to remember the origins of the Christmas story. Nothing glamorous about the a baby born in a stable, on straw and seemingly accompanied by cows, sheep and the like. A distressed mother and probably somewhat anxious father; this is the way Jesus arrived in the world according to the gospels.
Yes over two thousand years later Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate this birth at Christmas thinking again about the story of Jesus and the journey and birth in Bethlehem. A seemingly timeless story with a timeless theme. God arrives and lives not in glamour but in the very ordinariness of life and being human.
Perhaps when we get some time to reflect, and if we feel negative about this time of the year and the season, then becoming aware that God is in all things and comes in the very simplicity of my life, then just maybe the season might become more significant, real and personal.
The story says God enters into human life in a very real, powerful, intimate but humble way and we are reminded He does the same today for us all.
May the true spirit of Christmas be with you and whatever your circumstances may you find peace and love in your heart and life this Christmas time. Remember Emmanuel God is with us... maybe this Christmas you may have a time and opportunity to spend time in church or in quiet reflection and find afresh the Lord who dwells in the very ordinariness of your soul, being and life, and find a very deep and real way to celebrate.
Every Christmas Blessing,
Revd Glenn Martin
Dear Friends
Christmas is always a great time of the year especially for children, and at least for most people!!
However, for some Christmas is a sad and lonely time. Perhaps bereavement, loneliness, financial insecurity, ill health, immobility, can all play a part in making Christmas a tough time for some.
Of course Christmas is glamorised on the television, in shops, etc. and many who don't feel that glamour feel isolated, remote and dispirited by the season.
We perhaps have to remember the origins of the Christmas story. Nothing glamorous about the a baby born in a stable, on straw and seemingly accompanied by cows, sheep and the like. A distressed mother and probably somewhat anxious father; this is the way Jesus arrived in the world according to the gospels.
Yes over two thousand years later Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate this birth at Christmas thinking again about the story of Jesus and the journey and birth in Bethlehem. A seemingly timeless story with a timeless theme. God arrives and lives not in glamour but in the very ordinariness of life and being human.
Perhaps when we get some time to reflect, and if we feel negative about this time of the year and the season, then becoming aware that God is in all things and comes in the very simplicity of my life, then just maybe the season might become more significant, real and personal.
The story says God enters into human life in a very real, powerful, intimate but humble way and we are reminded He does the same today for us all.
May the true spirit of Christmas be with you and whatever your circumstances may you find peace and love in your heart and life this Christmas time. Remember Emmanuel God is with us... maybe this Christmas you may have a time and opportunity to spend time in church or in quiet reflection and find afresh the Lord who dwells in the very ordinariness of your soul, being and life, and find a very deep and real way to celebrate.
Every Christmas Blessing,
Revd Glenn Martin
November 2009 Vol. 31 No. 11
Dear Friends
We have 'done' Harvest and we are just about to 'do' Remembrance. This is the time of year when the church's seasonal calendar offers us a clear framework of thought; as we move from thanksgiving (for Harvest) through remembering to the waiting (in Advent) in readiness for the joy of the Incarnation. I am aware that in rural communities the reality of the harvest is much more visible with locally produced potatoes, garden-grown apples, and homemade jams. It makes the thanksgiving more immediate and more relevant.
We are now entering the 'Kingdom' season of the church's year. This is time when we remember and give thanks for those who have gone before us. All Saints Sunday gives us an opportunity to remember those who have died, as we ponder on the mystery of the 'Communion of Saints'. We hold special services for those who wish to remember their own departed loved ones, and light candles in their memories. We take part in Remembrance Sunday observances as we acknowledge the part played by those men and women who offered their lives in the service of their country during times of war.
This is the official remembering. But often, those memories that are treasured the most are the private ones. Those thoughts that remember small acts of kindness, often unasked for, but given as a gift. Many people sent me cards, both before and after I had major surgery, but the one I treasure is a tiny red card with a heart on it, which read inside 'remember you are loved'. In the Bible, Jesus was aware of this. There is a story in the gospels of a woman breaking an expensive jar of perfume and pouring it over Jesus. His disciples were horrified at the apparent waste. She had poured out the equivalent of a year's wages for 'nothing'. But Jesus saw beyond the act to the love in that woman's heart and said that her act would be remembered. And it has been. You can find the story in Mark's gospel (Chapter 14: 3-10). We do not know her name - some have hazarded guesses at who she was. But we know what she did, and it has been remembered.
And we do well to remember. 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'.* We can and do learn from our mistakes. But let us also remember with gratitude those lessons learned from the past both from our own experience and the experience of other. Let us remember with gratitude those who died in the service of others. Let us remember with grateful thanks the lives of those known to us that we have loved. And as we remember and give thanks let us look forward to what lies ahead. We wait for the coming of the Christ child - God's greatest gift to us. Let us look forward in joyful antici[pation to God's goodness to us.
With my love and prayers.
Claire
* from 'Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905, page 284.
We have 'done' Harvest and we are just about to 'do' Remembrance. This is the time of year when the church's seasonal calendar offers us a clear framework of thought; as we move from thanksgiving (for Harvest) through remembering to the waiting (in Advent) in readiness for the joy of the Incarnation. I am aware that in rural communities the reality of the harvest is much more visible with locally produced potatoes, garden-grown apples, and homemade jams. It makes the thanksgiving more immediate and more relevant.
We are now entering the 'Kingdom' season of the church's year. This is time when we remember and give thanks for those who have gone before us. All Saints Sunday gives us an opportunity to remember those who have died, as we ponder on the mystery of the 'Communion of Saints'. We hold special services for those who wish to remember their own departed loved ones, and light candles in their memories. We take part in Remembrance Sunday observances as we acknowledge the part played by those men and women who offered their lives in the service of their country during times of war.
This is the official remembering. But often, those memories that are treasured the most are the private ones. Those thoughts that remember small acts of kindness, often unasked for, but given as a gift. Many people sent me cards, both before and after I had major surgery, but the one I treasure is a tiny red card with a heart on it, which read inside 'remember you are loved'. In the Bible, Jesus was aware of this. There is a story in the gospels of a woman breaking an expensive jar of perfume and pouring it over Jesus. His disciples were horrified at the apparent waste. She had poured out the equivalent of a year's wages for 'nothing'. But Jesus saw beyond the act to the love in that woman's heart and said that her act would be remembered. And it has been. You can find the story in Mark's gospel (Chapter 14: 3-10). We do not know her name - some have hazarded guesses at who she was. But we know what she did, and it has been remembered.
And we do well to remember. 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'.* We can and do learn from our mistakes. But let us also remember with gratitude those lessons learned from the past both from our own experience and the experience of other. Let us remember with gratitude those who died in the service of others. Let us remember with grateful thanks the lives of those known to us that we have loved. And as we remember and give thanks let us look forward to what lies ahead. We wait for the coming of the Christ child - God's greatest gift to us. Let us look forward in joyful antici[pation to God's goodness to us.
With my love and prayers.
Claire
* from 'Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905, page 284.
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