The Minister Rambles...
Terrys Monthly Update
Tuesday 4th December 2007 2:44 AM
Dear Friends,
"Who doesn't remember the thrill of childhood Christmases? Waking up to the lumpy shape of an old sock on the bottom of the bed, distorted and stretched, filled with gifts of nuts, apples, a new toothbrush, a toy and somewhere down in the depths of the toe a small shiny coin." So said the Rev Tony Porter, Chaplain to Manchester City Football Club.
We all remember those Christmases of yesteryear when everything was that little bit more special than it is today. I remember the sock at the end of the bed, thankful that I wore short pants to school when little and had knee length wool socks that stretched. An orange and an apple, a little toy, some nuts, etc. Oh the joy! Memories - it always snowed on Christmas Eve, the families got together and really had a great time. The tinsel sparkled brighter, the lights twinkled, and Jesus was at the centre of our celebrations and not Argos or Amazon and certainly not Ebay. But it was never like that really - it only possibly snowed on Christmas Eve a handful of times, and as for the tinsel I remember it catching fire as it was before the day of fire resistant material, and the lights went out because the fuse bulb had blown and your parents could not remember where the spare one was. Yet all the same they were special times.
All different today though. It's all rush, rush, rush, waiting for the postman to come, hoping that last minute present might just arrive in time. The white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland used to say, "No time to stop. I'm late, I'm late." Is that what you have to look forward to this Christmas? All I can say is "Stop right there". If we want Christmas to be special this year, if we want to recreate the magic of what it is all about, the answer is in our hands. We don't have to celebrate Christmas the way the world tells us we must. We are free to spend this Christmas just how we want, so let's do it. Let's put the magic back into our Christmas. How do we do that? Well, it seems to me that my Christmases were special when we celebrated. Celebrated the coming of Jesus into the world; celebrated angels and shepherds, inns without rooms, wise men and choirs, candles, and above all love. The love of God come down to earth as the babe of Bethlehem.
May God richly bless you all this Christmas time, and as you focus on his gift of love, may his presence and strength sustain you throughout the coming year. God bless you and a very Happy Christmas.
Your friend and Minister,
TERRY.
Comments
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