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  • Forty Days of Photos - Day 13

    OK, so this photo was not actually taken during my walk today, but it was pretty central to it, as I had to call in the opticians to collect new glasses.

    For the first time ever I chose a pair of so-called 'designer' frames as well as one from the optician's own selection.  I was equally bemused and amused when they were brought out, one pair in a very blingy case and the other in a bog-standard Specsavers case. Amused because the price difference between the two was small, at least relative to the total bill; bemused because, at the end of the day both pairs do the exact same job. Why does one need a blingy case and the other not?

    Somewhere in all of this is something about Advent and Christmas and the tendency to dress up in bling and glitter that which actually arrived with no fancy packaging whatsoever.

    Part of me is secretly chuffed about the bling glasses case - just as part of me enjoys the sparkle and glister of the Christmas festivities.

    Part of me thinks the bling glasses case is just daft - just as part of me wonders if the parties and decorations are all a bit over the top.

    In the end, though, does it matter and why not have a bit of each... I can enjoy the golden glasses case and my blingy 'Kylie Minogue' glasses (!) and I can enjoy the frivolity of the fun festivities...  I have my plain blue glasses case and will also enjoy my turquoise edged 'Victoria' glasses, just as I will enjoy reflecting on the God who arrived as a plainly wrapped baby laid to rest in a feed trough.

    Both/and then, not either/or... Advent seems to be throwing up a lot of 'creative tensions' this year.

  • Two years further along the road...

    Social media threw up this photo for two years ago, when we closed our premises for redevelopment.  As I 'shared' it again, this is what I wrote:

    Two years! When we closed those doors we dared to hope that by now they would have been opened again, but still we wait, still we hope, still we journey onwards.

    Two years ago we could not have imagined all the wonderful things that have come our way as we've tabernacled in a borrowed room in a hotel. Births, marriages, Baptisms, Membership covenants, visitors - and yes, deaths and departures too.

    I am so, so proud of our people, all they do, and all they are... and I hope, pray and trust that, one day we will enter the 'place of promise'.

     

    I know that the journey is long and arduous, and often feels like two steps forward and one back (or even vice versa).  I know that some people just 'want to go home' and that others would be content to stay in the hotel long term or forvever. The wilderness meandering of the Israelites, of unknown durations, with much  uncertainty, struggle and disappointment, is a natural 'go to' story. Whilst I would never compare myself with Moses, or 'my' people with the Israelites, our journey is every bit as complex and confusing.

    I do my best.  WE do our best. We stick together and journey onwards, along this meandering road in hope, faith and trust that the God who has brought us this far will indeed lead us on.

     

  • A Celtic Advent - Day 13

    After a few days that haven't inspired me that much, today it's the story of the Magi and some 'new learning' for me.

    Seemingly, according to the Talmud, the term 'Magi' was used for Zoroastrioanists, a faith/worldview I know little about and about which good old wikipedia is quite helpful (here).  It seems that the ancient Celtic Christians used the same term for Druids (here).  The idea, then, that God somehow draws those of other faiths, other cultures, other worldviews to the Christ - and that they then return by 'another way' to the places from which they came.

    There is nothing to suggest that the Magi became proselyte Jews, and Christianity hadn't yet been invented.  They simply returned home, bypassing Herod, and somehow changed by their encounter.  People of other faiths sometimes tell me they are attrcted by Jesus, if not be his followers.

    Many Christian traditions, at least in western Europe, owe their origins to Celtic, Druidic and Germanic practices, whether it's Christmas trees, yule logs, bonfires or candles. Whether this is syncretism or enculturation is probably a moot point.  But, in symbol at least, wise people of all faiths, and probably of none, are drawn into the wonder of the God-child.

    Today's prayer:

    I thank you that you are an unlimited God, a God who is not bound by the limitations of human understanding.  You are a God who loves and works in all life, whether or not they acknowledge you and who you are. May I be willing to see and hear you, knowing your voice, wherever it comes from and whomever you choose to speak through. Amen.