Thursday 20 December 2012

The 2012 London Nativity

Mary and Joe were heading to London in their little old Vauxhall Corsa. Mary was nearly due and it was uncomfortable for her to sit squeezed in the small car with the seat-belt tightly hugging her large bump.
They were heading for London. Joe's brother was competing in the Olympics and he had got them tickets.
It would be hell in London. there would be loads of people but Mary and Joe were very fond of Jimmy, Joe's brother and wanted to see him compete. He was in the Archery and his competition was being held at the Lords cricket ground venue on the outskirts of London.
But with Mary being pregnant they had not had time to get things sorted properly. They had got the best tickets - thanks to Jimmy and his influence being an athlete. That was all arranged ages ago and now they were beginning to wonder if it had been wise making the long journey as they little car was stuck in the heavy traffic on the M1.
It was summer and the sun was shining and they were sure that they would be able to find somewhere to stay.
And the competition was tomorrow.
The journey went on and on and the Mary was becoming more and more uncomfortable.
It was early evening when they pulled into the area of St John's Wood where Lords is situated and wondered what they would do for the night. They saw a hotel.
The friendly receptionist said “Sorry no room!”
There was a b and b but the lady there said “Sorry we booked out months ago - don't you know the Olympics are on!”
They called into a roadside pub to be told “Sorry we don't do accommodation”
Joe pleaded with the girl behind the bar pointing to Mary's bump and saying she had not long to go. He laid it on thick, telling the young woman about how uncomfortable Mary had found the long journey.
He explained that they had visited many hotels and b and bs but all said the same. Because of the Olympics they were full.
This barmaid had a sister who was expecting and she could recognise the state Mary was in. She had an idea.
“Why not go and ask my Aunty Peggy. She sometimes takes in lodgers. Here’s the address. Tell her Judy sent you.”
So they trailed to to the next street and went to the modern semi detached house.
The door was opened by an elderly lady with grey hair and thick glasses.
This was aunty Peggy.
But her reply was predictable. “No. Sorry! All my rooms are full of games-makers. They are working odd shifts keeping everything going so they are in and out all day and night but a lovely bunch they are too. I have no spare beds at all. No spare room I'm afraid.”
She glared through her thick specs at the huge bump as Mary stood pathetically at the door. the eyes behind the thick lenses softened as she looked at Mary's tired eyes.
“Just for tonight is it?” she asked.
She paused for a long moment as she weighed up a possibility in her mind.
“There is a sun lounger in the conservatory - you can kip there as its just for tonight. I'm only doing this considering the state you are in.” She looked at Joe and added “There are a few cushions on the floor for you.”
Mary settled down on the nice sunbed. The conservatory was not big but it was clean and there were blinds so it was not like being in a greenhouse.
Joe went out and returned twenty minutes later with two portions of fish and chips and some lemonade and they had a makeshift supper.
Mary was tired and as soon as she had finished her chips she was ready to sleep. Joe curled up as best he could on the cushions on the tiled floor and tried to relax thinking about the events of the day and his excitement for tomorrow.
Mary wasn't asleep long when she woke Joe. It was now dark but the summer sky was still glowing from the city streetlights.
“Oh... Joe its started.” she exclaimed. “Joe its started!”
Joe jumped up quickly and held Mary’s hand. It was clammy.
He knew he had to do something.
He grabbed his iphone. There wasn't an app for do it yourself midwifery!
He phoned his brother.
No reply.
The phone was switched off. He mused it was probably a rule in the athletes camp to switch off all phones on the night before their event.
He decided to call an ambulance. But where were they. He remembered the scrap of paper that had written down Auntie Peggy's address.
He dialed 999.
Ambulance. The telephonist explained she was sorry but there will be a delay as there has been an incident at the Olympic village.
I won't describe the next bit because it was noisy and a bit messy but things happened very quickly and soon a new young pair of lungs were filling the conservatory with a loud cry.
The ambulance arrived eventually and they did a quick check and cleaned Mary up then left them to it.
And the following day they went to Lords, with a baby wrapped in swaddling bands and tucked close into Mary's chest and watched Jimmy compete and get into the final but not win a medal. And in honour of his uncle they called the baby Jamie.
Image"Laying Around" courtesy of Timeless Photography / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Christmas meditation on John chapter 1....

For thousands of years before Jesus was born festivals were held across Northern Europe at the darkest time of the year. Near to the shortest day a solstice festival would be held with holly and mistletoe, evergreen trees and singing, and plays and stories about the promise of spring.  In the darkest nights of winter, especially on the days when the daylight never seems to arrive,  this festival reminded people that the spring would come.

In more recent times, relatively speaking, the people across the northern parts of Europe became Christian. As a result the church leaders decided this season was the perfect time to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  No one actually knew when his real birthday fell. They saw a parallel between the old winter festival and the coming of Jesus.  They pointed out that the joy felt at the returning of the sun with the lengthening days of spring is the same joy we know in the life Jesus brings into the world.

Jesus' coming brings a promise of new life and hope to the world. In this way those early theologians interpreted Jesus as the life that creates and continues to bring new life into the world.  When we begin to understand Jesus in this cosmic perspective we see that he is so much more than just the "reason for the season".  Jesus is the grace that gives life to all creation and continues to sustain all that exists.  He appeared in human form so that in this embodiment we could see that love is both crucial and essential as a description of the new life Jesus brings.  With Jesus present as incarnated love, love as the energy of the universe can flourish and grow.

The bible narratives remind us that Jesus was born when Caesar was the emperor in Rome and Herod was his regent in Palestine. These two both have gone down in history for their notorious record on human rights - they were despotic tyrants who stayed in power through a reign of terror.  The social and political climate into which Jesus was born could hardly have been worse.  And yet, just as after the solstice has passed each new day becomes longer and lighter than the one before, so the good news of Jesus began to spread through the world.  It was indeed "Good news of great joy for today in the city of David is born a Saviour"

This reminds us that even on the darkest nights there is light in the world and that dawn will come.  The light of Christ has come into the world and though there will be moments of darkness as nations rise and fall, politicians come and go, and the economy goes up and down, always for Christians there is the glimmer of the presence of the light of Christ and the promise of more light yet to come.

This light cannot be bought, it cannot be won as a prize, cannot be withheld from anyone who wants it, and is not dependent on whether you have been "naughty or nice". It is not something that can be marketed or exploited. It is there for Christians but Christ came to the world because God loves the whole world (in the Greek - the cosmos), so it is there for everyone. This light is fundamental to the functioning of the universe itself. And at the centre of Christmas is the wonderful free gift from God - the invitation to become children of the the light. This is a free gift that is so different to the other gifts that people strive and struggle to possess, to earn or to win in the power based society in which we live.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness neither comprehends nor is able to overcome it. This great gift does not fit into the pattern of the world's way of doing things.  This light and this promise to become children of light is the life of the world and brings us hope at this dark part of the year. 



Image "Candles" courtesy of  Chris Sharp / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Fools and wise men......

This quote about fools is from the book "Mastery" by Robert Greene - a motivational book with the message that we can all be high achievers if we put our mind to it....

"In the course of your life you will be continually encountering fools. There are simply too many to avoid. We can classify people as fools by the following rubric: when it comes to practical life, what should matter is getting long-term results, and getting the work done in as efficient and creative a manner as possible. That should be the supreme value that guides people’s actions. But fools carry with them a different scale of values. They place more importance on short-term matters—grabbing immediate money, getting attention from the public or media, and looking good. They are ruled by their ego and insecurities. They tend to enjoy drama and political intrigue for their own sake. When they criticise, they always emphasise matters that are irrelevant to the overall picture or argument. They are more interested in their career and position than in the truth. You can distinguish them by how little they get done, or by how hard they make it for others to get results. They lack a certain common sense, getting worked up about things that are not really important while ignoring problems that will spell doom in the long term."

Image "Crazy Girl Cross Eyed And Pulling Her Ears"  courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

chitika