Tonight I am leading a carol service for one of the residential homes near Dibley.  The link is tenuous - via Penties and the next Anglican Parish but I am the only available 'Rev' person it seems.  I am looking forward to it, not least because the residents have chosen the carols which means I don't get to feel guilty over choosing the ones I like or obliged to have the ones I cannot abide - although of course both feature in this service!

I am happy, though, because someone called John has chosen my all time favourite, and this is going to be the centrepeice for my 'talk.'

'In The Bleak Midwinter' gets a lot of stick for being Victorian pietist mush, which is a real shame because I think it has immense depth as well as plenty of 'nostalgia appeal'

Verse 1 - is in part a Christmas card image - deep snow, rosy cheeked children etc, but also a reality that even in Victorian times for many winters were pretty bleak unless you were wealthy.  It does not say that Jesus was born in an English winter, though I guess you can imply that if you so choose, it just says that winters were pretty similar 'long ago' to what they experienced 'today'.

Verse 2 - this is God's omni-everythingness, it is eschatological, it is powerful stuff: the God who cannot be contained by heaven, whose reign will see the end of all things that currently are.  And this God is the same God who, in Jesus, way back then, was satisified with a stable for shelter.

Verse 3 - being rediscovered, and seen by some as 'too much information' with Mary breastfeeding Jesus, is utterly incarnational and speaks volumes on kenosis; the basics of life are sufficient for God incarnate.

Verse 4 - mystery, which writers such as Mr Kendrick try to express in 'Meekness and Majesty' etc.  Never mind angels singing their socks off (if angels have socks of course) the true beauty and worship is seen in the kiss of a mother for her new-born son.  Wow!

Verse 5 - forget the Sunday School nativity play and the layers of tradition and glitter, this verse is about a response.  OK, so now we've heard the story (again) what are we going to do?  Not as blatant as a Billy Graham altar call or Catriona banging on about mission but 'what are you going to do?'

If I wanted to write a carol that said all that needs to be said, then this might be it.  It affirms the place of Christmas card nostalgia within a deep understanding of the nature of God, the coming of Christ and the demand for a response.

Tonight I will endure 'O Come all ye Faithful' and 'Away in a Manger' but I will enjoy Christina Rossetti's finest!