"Isn't it good to see people queueing up to get into church" (Secretary of D+1 whilst waiting to collect her service sheet after tea).

"You've certainly made your mark" - actually said to me by someone in her 80's.  I think it was a compliment.

I could, but won't record the few grumbles and mumbles, not least because it was a great evening.  Some how we gave away more than 180 tealights.  It might have been a miracle and they multiplied, or it might have been that a few folk put them down and forgot them, so they were then given away a second time.  Logic says the latter is more likely, and I'm fairly sure it is what happened, but frankly I'm not too fussed, because I believe everyone had a lovely time.

The entire stock of hall chairs of Dibley have been returned to their rightful owners, cups have gone back to chapels and sheds, and I seem to have gained a whole heap of stuff that needs to be returned to its rightful owenrs after they said "oh just give it to Catriona and she'll get it back to me".

My guess is there were just under 200 folk at the service - almost 8 times our normal; certainly five times us and the Methodists combined.  It was lovely to stand at the front of such a large congregation, such a privilege to lead worship... and the last words we heard as we left?  "You will do it again next year, won't you?"

I hope so - but first I need some sleep!

Some interesting stuff being posted on the relationship of, specifically, imagination and revelation.  Sean has a wonderful quotation from Barbara Brown Taylor here.  Some of my own 'revelation' moments have certainly cut right through the intellect/imagination left/right brain model in ways that I can't really explain.  Whilst it would be fair to say that they have been involved in the process, I do not think they give rise to it.  I do wonder if there is a danger of confusing powerful emotion with revelation in a similar way to what can happen in charismatic circles.

Anyway, being a scientist type of person and liking digrams (a resource most theologians seem to me to make inadequte use of) I have had a very quick play with these ideas using some venn diagrams here.

180 hand decorated tealight holders

Tomorrow we will give way lots of love to local people.  Little things - tealights in hand decorated holders, goodie bags to children in the choir, craft items and sweets to small children, sandwiches, cakes, hot and cold drinks... smiles and the warmth of fellowship.

We will recall a little thing, a baby born in a little town, largely unnoticed... whose story would change the course of history.

What we do won't be earth shattering, but sitting down to write my 5 minute talk, I find myself drawn back to the mystery of the infinite contracted to the insignificant, and these wonderful words of a carol we won't be singing...

...Yet in the dark streets shining

Is everlasting light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in you this night.

God of little things, take this little thing and make it meaningful.  Amen

Picture from BBC website

8 p.m. and again at 11p.m. tomorrow night, the Liverpool Nativity on BBC 3.  I am looking forward to it, but with just the faintest hint of anxiety that after the wonderful Manchester passion this may not be so amazing.

I am looking forward to it, not least because by 11 p.m. I will be in a state of kn*ckeration after our evening outreach carol event - last head count on bookings was 183 and rising!  Indeed, as I blog I'm printing off yet more song sheets and wondering how to do 'loaves and fishes' on the tealight holders we decorated last week - l KNEW I should have gone to a college that taught elementary miracles.  Except of course they'd probably have been drummed out for wizardry and witchcraft...

I am looking forward to it because it sounds as if it will get to some of the guts of what gospel is - Good News for marginalised and unimportant people.  Making Jospeh into an asylum seeker might not be a one-for-one parallel with the biblical record, but it gets to the spirit of, if nothing else, parts of Matthew's account.

I've already heard a few, mainly secular, mumblings that this isn't a 'proper' nativity: no glitter, no Christmas card cleanliness.  But I think it is a fantastic experiment in... to pick up themes others are currently posting on... imagination, thought, hermeneutics, evangelism (which would shock Auntie Beeb, I'm sure!) and contextualisation.

So, no pressure then BBC, just make me proud of another of those wonderful northern cities...

Recycle - the possiblities are endless, unless it comes to civic Christmas lights, it seems 

Civic Christmas decorations, an annual waste of money and poor stewardship of earth's limited resources, or a great opportunity to promote community and lift spirits?  I'm never quite sure which side of the argument I come down on - the amounts of money spent on lighting streets for a few weeks could undoubtedly be put to practical use (after all, the poor are always with you) but it is quite uplifting, no matter how naff the designs, to see towns brightened up and small children gazing wide eyed at rudolph, stars, snowflakes or whatever else (to what purpose this waste?).  At the same time, the wanton use of electricity - you know, that stuff we're allegedly running out of the means to make - creation of waste and CO2 should be questioned.

I have been mildly amused to see two towns I hold dear in the headlines this year over things they have - or have not - done.  Northampton Borough Council decided to spend less money on lights, originally reported as being at least in part an environmental impact decision, though the local rag stresses only the financial saving made by the council, and cites a few disgruntled locals who feel they've paid for lights.  Meanwhile Warrington Borough Council has been criticised for this installation:

The council assert that care for the planet is a good Christian theme, a local Anglican diocese (not the one which contains Warrington, ironically) has taken offence at this one installation.  For myself, I think it's an opportunity well taken.  I hope that the increase in recycling will give a net carbon offset for the sign (otherwise it's been an own goal) but why this installation is not OK when so much other stuff evidently does not justify episcopal comment, I really don't know.  Are reindeer and snowflakes overtly Christian?  Not last time I looked!!  Perhaps the local churches should club togther and pay for an overtly Christian installation?  I know that for decades the Girls' Brigade in the north west sponsored an installation at Blackpool (and recall the increase in cost when our motto became flashing lights!!)

Well Wobblington and Nurumpton (as they are variously known in some circles) I still love you!

Photo from BBC website.