The last card to come by post this year, and it'd be hard to find one more pertinent, I think. It was sent by friends who live in Whaley Bridge, a town that came within a hair's breadth of being swept away as a dam started to crumble under the pressure of water above it.  A scary, close to home, reminder of the fragility of our planet, and the impact of climate change.

I have online friends in Australia who live in fear that this will be the day that they have to abandon their homes.

I also have online friends thoughout ther UK who fear they will lose their homes because of austerity or government policy, a different kind of climate change.

Part of the message of Christmas is that God enters this mess to transform it from within. Not be magic (oops, miracle) because that would absolve humanity of all responsibility.  No, God enters it as a human, to be part of it and to show us how we can love God's creation as God does.  We can't just cling blithely or blindly to the Revelation 21/22 promises.  We can't just pray harder.  We have to incarnate, to live out, day by day, a best we possibly can, our anticipation of that hope.

That's not easy, in fact it's extremely difficult.  But it's what Christmas is about...

God loved the world so much that God entered the world so that all creation - all creation, including the Trump administration, including Westminster (and Holyrood and Brussels), including ISIS/ISIL, including whoever I may see as 'battered' or 'beleagured', 'broken' or 'bad', or 'them', all of it - might be saved.

And if that doesn't give me pause for thought, then, Houston, I have a problem!

I can't fix it all, but I can be light in my small corner...

(With thanks to some of my minister friends south of Hadrian's Wall)

Tunes to which 'While Shepherd's Watched' has been sung in church settings... a) Winchester Old (usual tune)

b) Ilkley Moor bar t'hat (Ilkla Moor baht 'at)

c) Lyngham (Oh, for a thousand tongues)

d) Sweet shining Christmas bells

So far, so good, huh?  Keep going... yes, really...

e) The house of the rising sun

f) Ghost riders in the sky

And if not sung, at least been aware of...

g) The laughing policeman

h) Supercalifragilistic...

So, of anyone wants to spice up their carol service, or maybe ruin someone else's, feel free to experiement with any of these

Know this so well!  To be fair, less as an adult than as a child. Obviously in good company!!

THIS COMES WITH A HEALTH WARNING THAT IT'S ABOUT DEATH AND FUNERALS.

I saw this advertisement on a train a couple of weeks ago, and was so insensed by it that I took a photo. Since then I've been meaning to post something in response, but have been too busy.

To be clear, I totally respect the right of people to have whatever form of funeral they choose, but I do feel that the premise of this advert is misguided - it misses the key question of 'who' a funeral is for.  Not, I would deign to argue, the deceased, but rather those who mourn their loss.

The reality is, whatever we believe (or don't), we aren't the ones whose needs are met - or not met - by a funeral.  It is those who remember us who need a framework within which to say 'farewell' and achieve a measure of, if not 'closure', at least 'completion'.

Funerals can be faith-based, can be humanist or can totally non-religious.  Whatever form they take, they name the reality - that so-and-so has died.  Whatever people thinks happens after death, they offer a framework to recall some highlights of the person's life, some things that mattered to them, some things that we don't want to be lost.

Personally, I think it is good to see the coffin, and the move to 'private committal followed by thanksgiving' loses something important (others, increasingly it seems, disagree).  The approach being advertised above could mean that a person dies in hospital and is taken directly to the crematorium where, with absolutely no ceremony, their body is cremated.  What do the family do?  Or the neighbours and friends? I fear that this approach - undoubtedly well intentioned - could lead to regrets later on.  Whilst we have all heard horror stories of terrible funerals, few people seem to regret that there was one.

On Friday just gone, I conducted a funeral.   We arrived at the crematorium just as the daylight faded into night, and the drizzle turned to rain.  It's probably the least popular slot - Friday afternoon, last slot of the day, mid December.  Around fifty to sixty folk were there to say farewell to a woman in her mid-nineties.  A few stories were told, and there was laugther amidst the tears.  Words of comfort and hope were spoken, and the reality of death and separation named for what it is. And on the way out, as the recording of Glen Miller's 'In the Mood' filled the air, broad smiles spread across faces the faces of those who made their way into the blackness of the night either to return home or to continue to share memories over tea and cake... A life had not just been acknowldeged, it had been celebrated.  A family had not only grieved, they had been surrounded by the love of neighbours and friends.  A formal farewell was expressed, and unspoken permission given to begin the work of moving forward - not 'on', not 'beyond', forward.

As I said, those who want no fuss, no funeral, that's of course their prerogative.  But if anyone asks my opinion, then I'd say funeral every time.  Yes it costs more to have a funeral (direct cremations are cheaper because the FD has less to do and they take less time) but it is, in my opinion, money well spent.

For the record, one day hopefully far off, my choices are - church service followed by cremation, all prepaid by me.  I wonder what will you choose, and why?

This very jolly card arrived on my doormat today - always whoever sent it didn't sign it! All I know is that has a Glasgow postmark.

It's great fun, and brought a smile to my face. So, whoever you are, on the off chance you see this, thank you!