This little ornament hangs on my tree.  It is an "Angel for the Broken" made by a charity in Mongolia who craft them from the glass of bottles that contained alcoholic drinks, and sell them to raise funds for alcohol rehabilitation.

These angels are incredibly fragile, and the wings of this one had snapped off, leaving her looking more like Mary.

In a perverse way, I like that. Not all angels have wings. And Mary was a messenger in her own right.

I didn't quite manage to position the angel/Mary so the lights would shine through her glass body, but I think she also has that 'saint' quality too.

One fundamental truth of Christianity is that, in some way or other, we are all broken.  Yet the light of Christ still shines on, and through, us, enabling us to be, and speak, Good News to others.

Broken angels, bearing hope to those who are broken - what could be more hopeful than that?

I'm researching my 'talk' for the Christmas Day service, and came across this, less known version of a very well known carol... enjoy!

Thank you to my long-time friend J who sent this photo of angels flying over the streets of London (not sure if it's Regent Street or Oxford Street).

Angels are sometimes described as 'creatures of light' and these surely are.

It's a great photo, and just looking at it, I can feel the chill night air on my cheeks, hear the hubbub of voices and traffic,  sense the energy of the city.

And above it all, the angels hover, mid-flight, watching silently.  I am reminded of the carol "It came upon the midnight clear."

It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old

From angels bending near the earth

To touch their harps of gold...

And still above our city streets

The glorious angels shine

A peaceful presence overhead

At this year's Christmas time

So let us hear their song again

And let our striving cease

That all may know the love of God

And find much needed peace.

As I posted yesterday, during the morning service we gave away 70 knitted angels to be passed on friends/neighbours with love.  The remainign thirty went off on a journey into the ubknown.

Here is one that flew into Waitrose (with permission from the store) and waited among the multi-bags of crisps.  I wonder if s/he has found a nice new home; I hope so. I feel pretty sure that the 'right' thirty people will be blessed by these little angels, sent out with love into a world in need of a little bit of joy.

A couple of stories of our angels...

I had a message from someone who had been contacted via Facebook by someoen who had found one, and been cheered up by it.

One of our tiny tots was dropped home by grandparents after the service to discover the tree had been at up at home - but lacked an angel... what joy for them to be able to pop their angel on the tree, sharing the love of our church, and through that, the love of God.

God is good - we know that, but sometimes it's nice to be reminded.

So many people we ran out of chairs! So much fun as we sang and laughed and listened and responded.

The angels have flown - 70 to friends and neighbours, 30 left in cafés and shops for people to find.

I've had a good day - I hope others did too.