Thursday, 24 December 2020
Christmas Eve: Nativity Scene: Hazel Richardson
Christmas Eve: Advent Reflection: The Revd Erna Stevenson
Well, the time is finally here. It is Christmas Eve. Not as we expected, but it is here. One of my early Christmas memories goes back to my childhood, when on one Christmas Eve I got to play the angel in our home Nativity play. I had my long white nightdress on and even had the obligatory wings made out of twisted wire and covered with white sheets. I remember it especially, because this time I had actually, got some words to say: “Glory to God in the highest heaven...” Up till then my only ‘stage appearance’ was in a school play, which was a non-speaking role. I was a rose tree stood at the side of the stage. The tree started off a perky, well-growing, flourishing plant and gradually, through the play it wilted and eventually died. You can imagine what a demanding role that was! It didn’t occur to me then that I was actually enacting a great metaphor of life.
But back to the angel. Angels had a busy time in my childhood Christmases even apart from our Nativity Play. According to our family tradition they were the ones who brought the presents and put them under the tree. They were also the ones, who – during Advent – secretly deposited small amounts of change in the pantry so that we, the children, with no other means, could have some money for the presents we wanted to give. We called it angel-money.
The Angels have started even earlier this year as they have brought the loveliest present to my family on 28th November in the shape of a baby boy, called Marcell. He was born to one of my nephews and his wife and within a few hours of the arrival of this little bundle of joy, the good news and his pictures traveled thousands of miles to take the good news to faraway relatives.
We celebrate
and rejoice and give thanks but do not know what the future may hold for the
new baby. But celebrating Jesus’ birth we do know. Our joy holds together birth
and cross and re-birth. It is beautifully expressed in Mark Greene’ poem used
in the LICC Chistmas cards:
Christmas
Promise.
This
baby, this God, my God, Mary's son, Did
not come as an artist's impression, Oil
on canvas, tempera on wood,
but
from the womb: bone, brain, heart, blood.
Came
to show that this life,
Come
what may, come what came to him...
A
country life: brothers, sisters, festivals, friends,
Hands
calloused working wood and stone; and then
Temptation,
betrayal, slander, shame,
Whip,
nail, spittle, pain,
All
evil's weight, and breath-taking death...
This
life, my life, any life could, with him,
be full, rich, free,
Come
what comes, as he intended it to be.
Christmas
is a promise,
The
divine guarantee of this possibility:
God
with us day by day in our humanity, Heaven-scented
with the pledge of eternity.
A very Happy Christmas to All
Christmas Eve: Editor's Note
Manse Crib
On this Christmas Eve I want to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who has written for the blog, contributed articles or sent in nativity scenes. It's been great to 'journey' together through these Advent days.
In four weeks the blog has received over 1500 hits, that's 50 a day! None of it would have been possible without your contributions.
I hope you have a happy and blessed Christmas.
Ian
Wednesday, 23 December 2020
Wednesday 23rd December 2020: Advent Reflection: Janet Reid
Well it may be Advent, the season of waiting for the coming of Jesus, but waiting has been a bit of a theme this year hasn’t it. Waiting to be allowed out of our houses for more than an hour at a time, waiting for the churches to be allowed to open, waiting to see if planned holidays can go ahead, waiting for a vaccine, and in our family waiting to see if a wedding, originally planned for July and rearranged four times, could finally go ahead last week. Well it did, and we gave thanks and celebrated as my son and his American fiancĂ©e finally became husband and wife at the historic Guildhall in Windsor on Saturday, in a ceremony which was streamed across the Atlantic and to other parts of the UK for family and friends unable to be there.
This year Radio
Christmas broadcasting up until Christmas Eve, is all about fundraising for the
poorest children and families in Guatemala and Honduras. The volunteers working there for Street Kids
Direct, have worked tirelessly for a better future for them and to raise
awareness globally of the plight of those considerably less well off than most
of us.
Tuesday, 22 December 2020
Tuesday 22nd December 2020: Advent Reflection: Bryan Long
So, what do we make of this in store poster campaign running in John Lewis stores during Christmas ? Is it a case of 'how dare they, that is our patch ? ' Or might we gently nod in semi-approval, it must be good that people are are getting a little close to some of those things we church people have been saying for some time. We might say that the more people approach the big things in life, then the better for all of us, more the merrier indeed !
They are not bad calls in this poster. Who can deny that more thoughts about people can lead to wider perceptions, or that giving more time to people can bring more understanding about each one of us ? No one can dispute that when we are touched in these ways, then big differences in how we live can follow ?
But what is missing from this poster, and the important things which it is not suggesting ?
We want to talk about the time of Advent, when we wait for the coming of the Lord, for things coming and things promised. We want to talk about the themes we find in these days of waiting, those of hope, peace, joy and love. We can celebrate a life found in the manger in Bethlehem, and then think on a sacrifice made on a cross.
And, by the way, we are thinking of so much more love, more
than just a
little more !
Monday, 21 December 2020
Monday 21st December 2020: An African Nativity: Liz Waumsley
Monday 21st December 2020: Advent Reflection: Hazel Richardson
The other day I came across a short video by the Anglican bishop and biblical scholar Tom Wright, who was publicising his latest book God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and its Aftermath. (I was successfully persuaded to buy it as a result – and am deeply impressed!) In it, he reflects on what the bible has to say about all sorts of crises, and how people respond to them, starting with the Prophets, moving on to the Psalms and the book of Job, and then on, through Jesus, to the early Church. He describes how, in times of crisis and disaster, both in biblical times and today, people often see disasters as being sent by God as punishments, or blame others for causing them. But through Jesus’s responses to people in trouble, we can learn that, having (very importantly) spent time prayerfully going through a stage of lament, there follows a call to action – what can we do about it now? And thus, even as we feel our helplessness in the face of disaster, nevertheless we come to realise that the God we know in Jesus is still there, still with us, still sovereign….and out of all that can come all sorts of new and great things.
Here’s a short extract, focusing on the passage in Acts II when the disciples
in Antioch hear from a prophet that there is going to be a famine. “So what do
the Antioch Jesus-followers say? They do not say either ‘This must be a sign
that the Lord is coming back soon!’ or ‘This must mean that we have sinned and
need to repent’ – or even ‘this will give us a great opportunity to tell the
wider world that everyone has sinned and needs to repent’. Nor do they start a
blame-game, looking around at the civic authorities in Syria, or the wider
region, or even the Roman empire, to see whose ill-treatment of the eco-system,
or whose tampering with food distribution networks, might have contributed to
this dangerous situation. Instead, they ask three simple questions: Who is
going to be most at risk when this happens? What can we do to help? And
who shall we send?"
It struck me that these same thoughts and questions might very well
be applied to our current global climate emergency / environmental crisis, just
as much as to the pandemic - and of course there is much research which
suggests that the two are closely linked. But I can't help thinking that a
little bit of repentance might actually go quite a long way here as well!
In a recent podcast, the lay preacher John Collings reminded us that
when John the Baptist - a central figure of Advent - baptised people in the
river Jordan, they went completely down under the water and came up again, as a
sign that they wanted to change their way of life; to ‘repent.’ He wondered if we have felt as if we too have
been – and still are - under the water
of the pandemic at the moment, and we can’t wait to come up and out of it. But
when we finally emerge from its clutches, do we want to go back to the old way
of life - burning too much fossil fuel,
using too much single-use plastic, dropping litter, destroying rain forests, and
so on – basically, abusing the planet? Or do we want to emerge, like those
people arising out of the Jordan after baptism, ready to embrace a new and
different way of life, where we properly respect and care for the earth that
God created and loves (so much that he sent his Son, the baby whose birth we
are about to celebrate), and where we do the minimum of damage to our beautiful
yet vulnerable planet, to bring about a world where all of life can flourish? I’m
sure we do!
As
Sir David Attenborough has so vividly pointed out, we are at a unique stage in our history.
Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet,
and never before have we had the power to do something about it. And what happens next is up to every one of us – and,
I would add, not only with regard to environment, but of course also as we
tread carefully on our ongoing journey out of the pandemic.
Even
amid all the current challenges and restrictions, great things are happening as
we approach the end of Advent and celebrate, in just a few days’ time, the
birth of Jesus, with its promise of good news for all people. And we are also fast
approaching the start of a new year – as so many people have said, this is a
year they can’t wait to see the back of!
But it’s traditionally also a moment for making resolutions, when we can
choose to leave behind any old and unhealthy habits and ways of life, and make
a fresh start. I can tell you there’s certainly plenty of room for improvement
in my own life! So, we all have a great
opportunity, like the disciples in Antioch, to ask ourselves now, as we consider
both Covid and climate crisis, “Who is going to be most at risk here? What can
we do to make this situation better? Who
shall we send? … Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?” And Eco Church beckons, to help us on our
way!
To
end with a quote from T.S. Eliot,
For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next
year's words await another voice.
And to make
an end is to make a beginning.
Sunday, 20 December 2020
Sunday 20th December 2020: Advent Picture: Brian Collins
Brian has sent the church a lovley glass sphere which contains a picture of his beloved parents, Jean and Jim Collins - which (in the year of Jim's passing) he has asked to be hung on the AFC Christmas tree, which we will do this morning. Jim, I'm told, often got the tree ready in years gone by, so today we remember Jean and Jim, two central figures in the AFC story and we give thanks to God for them
St Michael's to host a Zoom gathering for the COTHA Carols
St Michael's is hosting a Zoom meeting this afternoon for people to sing along with the service. I hope it is not too late for your congregations to join in as well.
You are invited to join other members of the congregations of St Michael's, Amersham Free Church and St John's Methodist Church at a Zoom broadcast of the service, at 5pm on Sunday 20th December.
The sound of the service will be supplied by the meeting host. So that everyone can hear, all participants will be muted but this is a chance to share the service with friends old and new, and sing along to the favourite carols in your own homes. We hope to see as many as possible of you there.
This is the link for the zoom session:-
Topic: Service of Nine Lessons and Carols
Time: Dec 20, 2020 05:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9207467503?pwd=Zjk4MlhzR0M4L3NwZDNmQlNXRE13dz09
Meeting ID: 920 746 7503
Passcode: Carols
Saturday, 19 December 2020
Saturday 19th December 2020: Advent Photo: Linda and Patrick Carroll
We were very proud of our Grandson Noah when he was a Christmas ant in the Hyde Heath School Nativity play!
Saturday 19th December 2020: Reflection: David Watson
Advent is a time of looking forward to a brighter future—the
anticipation of a new birth—of hope and light. In many Christian communities it
triggers the concept of being “born again”. I suppose irrespective of our
“style” of faith most of us feel “born again” at this Christmas time as we
recall many memories from our past and watch, often teary eyed, the nativity
plays and concerts, in my case, of my grandchildren. Maybe, remembering the
more hectic working days when on time arrival at the children’s concerts was
often touch and go! and also to distant memories of our own performances. For
me, remarkably, they are still as clear as day and still a reflective highlight
of my life at this time of year. It really saddens me that there will be no
concerts this year and it has certainly created a big hole in my psychological
preparation for Christmas.
Despite this being a year to forget for most people it has
been special for me personally. Given my previous working life in the
pharmaceutical and vaccines industry, I watched with increasing concern the
development of the Covid pandemic in China back in January of this year. I
followed it carefully from the outset and from mid February started to produce
regular weekly briefings for my colleagues in Rotary and interested friends. As
we went into the long lock-down in March, preparing these often quite long
reports kept me occupied but also frustrated that I couldn’t do more. So, in
late May, via a series of professional contacts, I joined the UK Vaccines Task
Force. Fully vetted and security cleared!
Our initial role was to select from the many ongoing
projects the ones which we felt were the most likely to succeed and meet the
needs of the UK and, as importantly, the wider world. This took around 3 months
to complete and then we worked with each of the chosen candidates to support
them to achieve regulatory approval and launch. Two weeks ago we saw the launch
of the Pfizer vaccine and we are also now very close to seeing the approval of
the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine, hopefully, before the end of the year. Others should
follow early next year.
To repeat what we know, that this has been an incredibly
difficult year for all of us but it does seem that we do now have a light at
the end of the tunnel and we can see that science used in the right way can be
an incredible force for good in the world.
So, this year I thank God that I have personally been “born
again” with regards to my professional life. Also, to feel the incredible
satisfaction of being part of a global team who have been instrumental in
bringing this to fruition in such a short time.
We hope and pray that through this work we can regain a
sense of normality in our lives so that with God’s guidance we can follow the
light of a vaccine to a brighter future and once again shed tears of joy at the
many nativity plays and concerts still ahead of us in life.
Happy Christmas
Invitation from St Michael's to share the Carol Service via Zoom
An audio service of Nine Lessons and Carols will be uploaded onto Soundcloud in the normal way, and the link will be circulated when it is available.
You are also invited to join other members of the congregations of St Michael's, Amersham Free Church and St John's Methodist Church at a Zoom broadcast of the service, at 5pm on Sunday 20th December.
The sound of the service will be supplied by the meeting host. So that everyone can hear, all participants will be muted but this is a chance to share the service with friends old and new, and sing along to the favourite carols in your own homes. We hope to see as many as possible of you there.
This is the link for the zoom session:-
Topic: Service of Nine Lessons and Carols
Time: Dec 20, 2020 05:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9207467503?pwd=Zjk4MlhzR0M4L3NwZDNmQlNXRE13dz09
Meeting ID: 920 746 7503
Passcode: Carols
Friday, 18 December 2020
Cancellation of the Open Air Carol Service
Sunday afternoon’s outdoor carol service has been cancelled. The Elders have taken this decision in the light of our area moving into Tier 3. Although, legally, such services are still permitted, we have taken the view that such a gathering would be open to misunderstanding by the general public. And we wish to play our part, as a church community, in preventing the spread of the virus. We really do look forward to next year.
Friday 18th December 2020: Carols at The Manse
Last night we had a lovely surprise at The Manse. A church member arranged for some members of The Amersham Town Band, who had been playing at carehomes and street corners throughout Thursday, to conclude their day by playing outside the Manse. So, as a family we listened and were joined by other members of Cedar Grove. A very special, and much appreciated, moment.
Church Notice Board Poster
Our thanks to Patrick Carroll for yet another year of super posters - all seeking to proclaim a welcome to our community.
George - dont do that...!
A member of the congregation, Geoff Hollobon sent in a recommendation - and it's a lovely one - Joyce Greenfell's Natvity monologue on Youtube...timeless fun!
Find it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWl36mh6vM
Friday 18th December 2020: Advent Reflection: Liz Waumsley
It was the night before Christmas. The people in this Brabant village brought to life by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1566 are busy. All village life is there if you are able to look closely into the painting. There are people carrying and loading sacks of grain, a cart with firewood, skaters, a man who is probably a leper with an alms bowl, chickens, pigs, people jostling to get into what looks like an inn, children playing...The children are particularly captivating. Some are having a snowball fight - the standing figure has the mark of a snowball on his shoulder! One small child is scaring away birds.But the title of this work is”The Census in Bethlehem”, and then we notice two figures in the foreground, a man with a carpenter’s saw and a woman wrapped up in a coat, seated on a donkey, hurrying to join the queue at the inn.
This village does not look like Bethlehem, but we can certainly recognise Mary and Joseph.
There is a plaque on the outside of the building which looks like an inn, and close inspection shows that it is the coat of arms of the Hapsburg Empire. Philip ll of Spain ruled the Netherlands, and this Brabant village,in the sixteenth century. The reason for Mary and Joseph having undertaken that long, arduous journey to Bethlehem was, as we are told in Luke 2:1-5, to register in the census conducted for Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor who ruled Galilee and Judea and all parts surrounding them, to assess people for taxes. It was the oppressive rule of the Romans that brought Mary all this way in her advanced state of pregnancy, with Joseph. The result was that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of Joseph’s ancestor David.
The reason for all those people in the bottom right hand corner of the picture to be queuing was to pay their taxes to the Hapsburgs. The Inhabitants of the Netherlands were, totally unjustly, taxed about 4 times as heavily as the citizens of Spain.
So here comes Jesus, born into this maelstrom of humanity, where there is huge underlying injustice because those in power exploit those who are vulnerable.
As we wait this Advent for Jesus to be born again, among us, may we use the insights we have gained from this covid-19 world into the best and the worst of how we live in this country and this world, to bring closer the kingdom of God.
Thursday, 17 December 2020
Thursday 17th December 2020: Nativity Scene: Linda and Patrick Carroll
Linda writes: I spotted this nativity set in a charity shop in Pinner, the year our first grandson was born in 2007. It has been greatly loved by the children ever since, who like to rearrange it.
Thursday 17th December 2020: Advent reflection: Doreen Platts
(Iona Community)
There are many beautiful paintings of the Annunciation. One
of my favourites is by the painter Simone Martini, painted in 1333, which hangs
in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. In it we see Mary, recoiling, almost aghast at
the solemnity of being asked to bear God’s son, which seems to me to be a
pretty realistic reaction given her circumstances.
Traditionally Mary is thought of as a young girl, a teenager.
As we follow the story in Luke’s gospel Chapter 1 from verse 26, we are told
she is betrothed to a man named Joseph and that Mary was deeply troubled by the
angel’s greeting. She was so troubled that she hurried away to stay with her
cousin Elizabeth for three months. Elizabeth, who was well on in years and having
been childless, was now pregnant, and was living in seclusion.
In many ways it is such a human and everyday story. Of
feeling the task is overwhelming and of wondering how one can cope. It shows the need of someone to turn to when
life takes a demanding and unexpected turn. It is a story of mutual support. A story that
is so relevant in this year when many have suffered. When many have given above
and beyond what was expected.
We are about to
celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour.
It is good to remember the opening response in our service on Sunday,
and whilst I am tempted to quote from later in Luke’s gospel, Mary’s song of
praise, The Magnificat, I reflect on these lines from the carol by the Iona
Community.
Yet Mary,
consenting to what none could guess
Replied with
conviction, “Tell God I say yes”.
In our watching
and our waiting
Come, Lord Jesus.
In our hopes and
in our fears
Come, Lord Jesus.
In our homes and
in our world
Come, Lord Jesus.
Come, bless us and
surprise us as we prepare to celebrate your birth.
Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Wednesday 16th December: Advent Poem
Hazel Richardson shares this poem with us:
Miracle
A miracle that Joseph stuck
with the girl he was engaged to
when he realised she was
carrying a child that was not his.
A miracle that the first ever
Roman census drove them to Bethlehem,
and that when they could not
find anywhere to stay there
someone offered them a
stable.
It was definitely a miracle
that the baby was delivered safely,
after such a journey, in such
conditions, that very night.
A miracle, as well, that a
random group of hillside shepherds,
total strangers to everyone,
turned up with an unlikely
tale that made sense of it all;
that they had managed to find
their way there in fact.
And a miracle that all these
things coincided the way they did.
But then, every birth is a
miracle.
Relationships, journeys,
shelter, stories,
survival against the odds,
people finding their way,
things coinciding….
they are all miracles.
Life itself is a miracle!
Ah – but at the centre of
this story
(at the centre of everything,
some would say)
was the miracle of
miracles -
that the people in the stable
looked at that little scrap
of humanity,
all wrapped up in cloths and
rags,
and saw God!
Child of the night,
you who one day would open
the eyes of the blind;
you who people would call Son
of God:
open my eyes too,
till I start to see in everyone,
everything,
what those in the stable saw
in you.
Open my eyes
to see the holiness of every
birth,
and God in every living
person,
made in God’s image,
loved as God’s child.
Hazel Richardson has shared this poem with us:
Open my eyes to see God in
the stranger;
in unlikely story and
unexpected happening;
in the world that God loves;
in this fragile planet;
in the whole created
universe.
And though I can scarcely
believe it could be so,
help me find God deep in
myself.
Child of the night,
open my eyes to this God who
is beyond imagination,
yet comes close;
open my life to miracle.
(Brian Woodcock)
Wednesday 16th December 2020: Who could this be?
We've had a lovely photo of Father Christmas sent in - Guess who?
You probably already have, our good friend Mr Ray Norris!
Wednesday 16th December 2020: Message from St Michael's Church
We have been advised by Brother Tree Sound that there are still some tickets available for their forthcoming concert. The price for adults has now been reduced to £10.00
MUSICAL CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION – St. Michael’s Church – Thursday, 17 December - 1:00pm.-2:00pm.
A Musical Christmas Celebration for all the family! Carols, Christmas favourites and more. This concert features Christmas music for string trio, including favourites such as The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky, Handel's Messiah highlights, and the Snowman. Brought to you by 'Brother Tree Sound', a local professional chamber group. Social distancing means that seating will be limited. Tickets £10.00. Under 25s free, thanks to support from the Cavatina Music Trust, available from https://buytickets.at/brothertreesound/460652
Christmas Eve: Nativity Scene: Hazel Richardson
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We have been advised by Brother Tree Sound that there are still some tickets available for their forthcoming concert. The price for adults h...