Today's verses:

Psalm 42:8

Song of Songs 7:10 - 13

Philippians 4:12

Well there's the erotic love of S of S as clearly expressed as ever... lots of innuendo at the very least, so I'll not bother pursuing that one.  The psalm speaks quite clearly of God's love, whilst the Philippians verse refers to contentedness.  The psalm extract is lovely... God's love by day, God's singing by night... but it is to the Philippians that I will turn, everso briefly:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

What is it that enables a perosn to be content during times of hardship?  How can someone rise above being hungry or cold or unwell or whatever physcial, emotional or other hardship they face?  I have a feeling the answer is 'love'.  If we know we are loved, does anything else actually matter so much?

When we were children, money was often in short supply, but we never went short of anything we needed, and we always knew we we loved.  No, we didn't get the holidays or consumer goods that some of our friends had; yes there were sometimes disappointments (and I'm sure my parents were every bit as disappointed as we were, if not more so) but there was always love.

In the Christmas cards I've received this year have been lots of kind messages from friends, some of whom have been moved by the events of the last year and a bit, and the way they have seen my response (never quite sure who this paragon is, but I'll go with it for now...).  Perhaps it is because I am loved that I am able to love; perhpas it because I am loved that I can be content in whatever situation I find myself?  Contentedness is not happiness and neithe ris it fatalism; it is something akin to joy.  Given that love, joy, peace and hope are all parts of the fruit (singular) of the Spirt, small wonder they overlap and intertwine.

In sunshine and showers

Height and depth

In laughter and tears

Life and death

In good times and bad times

Health and pain

God's love,

God's love.

In fullness or emptiness

Poverty or wealth

In working and resting

Empty or full

In all times and everywhere

Boundless and free:

God's love,

God's love

Advance posted from Sunday evening - other things to occupy me today!

The Northumbria Community readings:

Psalm 139:23 - 24

Proverbs 15: 16 - 17

1 Corinthians 13: 1 - 3

Now, it's hardly rocket science or even a theology degree to recognise that 1 Corinthians 13 is the great Pauline hymn to love, so I'm going to opt for the Proverbs reading because it is so much less overworked:

Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

I guess it is appropriate to remind ourselves that 'fear of the Lord' means deep respect for' not 'abject terror of the Lord' but it is really the second sentence that strikes me - better a simple meal shared in loving company than a banquet marred by hatred, bitterness, anger, resentment, etc.  The approach of Christmas will see many Britons eating the equivalent of fattened calves, sadly, all too often, in tense and stressful company, where tempers flare, hasty words are spoken and intemperate actions cause harm. Better a cup of instant soup with love and laughter than that!

Two quick thoughts.

Today I am not posting because I am busy preparing food for my celebration birthday dinner, to which I have invited many guests.  The truth is, I am pretty sure they'd all turn up for something far less elaborate than I have planned and that we'd have a good time, because they are all people who love as a way of being.

Secondly, over Christmas we will have many and varied people passing through church and eating meals we have prepared.  Some of these people have very challenging lives, know little love and may live in ways that we wonder or worry about.  But the amazing thing is this: every time I mention the Christmas Day dinner to even the most hard-nosed avowed atheist, their eyes become a little dewy because they detect a hint of love lived out through us.

Beans on toast

Shared with one who loves me

Far better than

Banquets, and toasts

To people who invite from obligation...

A sandwich

And a smile

More satisfying than

Sumptuous spreads

Sulkily shared

Wise words about love

Made manifest in Christ

And remembered

In squares of bread

And sips of wine

Loving Lord

As we meet around tables this Christmas-tide

Whatever we eat or drink

May love be fill us to bursting point... and then some

Amen

This birthday is a square number, with a vaguely biblical ring to it... a source for jubilation, maybe?

It is thirteen years since the last square birthday... the the next will be fifteen into the future (DV, as my grandmother would say).

There are no prizes for working it out, just a little festive arithmetic for you!

It has been a very busy fourth Sunday in Advent, and not without its challenges.

This morning and this evening the same set of opening responses had been chosen by those who were leading (which probably means they come from Iona)...

Leader:                       Light looked down and saw darkness

All:                             ‘I WILL GO THERE’, SAID LIGHT

Leader:                       Peace looked down and saw war

All:                             ‘I WILL GO THERE’, SAID PEACE

Leader:                       Love looked down and saw hatred

All:                             ‘I WILL GO THERE’, SAID LOVE

Leader:                       So he, the Lord of light

                                  The Prince of Peace

                                  The Kind of Love

                                  Came down and crept in beside us

There is something very striking about the deliberate entering of the positives in to the negatives... light chooses to enter darkness, peace chooses to enter war, love chooses to enter hate.  I find that pretty challenging - it takes 'love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you' to a new level... not just done in some abstract or private way, but through active engagement.  To be honest, I like to avoid conflict, and I quite like the abstract, safe, praying from the safety of home or church... the challenge of love is to get involved... not in a boisterous way but by creeping in alongside.

I've had a lot of fun today - the Sunday School led service was delightful and the evening Carol Service gave me opportunity to sing with the choir - elsewhere people I know have had far more difficult days.  Somehow, if only we are able to detect it, God's love is part of our days whatever they are like... when we hurt, so does God, when we smile, God smiles too.

I have many things to ponder tonight... not least the mystery of love incarnate in a helpless baby.

Demonstrating that oldies are goodies...

HT Perpetua for this one:

And RB for this: