This is the last of the reflections on what the book terms 'the second coming of Christ,' which is the spiritual indwelling during our earthly lives.

The key idea is of 'abiding in God' (think John 15 vine imagery), of metaphorically staying put, of living life in all its fullness (John 10:10) of being and becoming.

I may be doing the writer a disservice, and it may be baptistic anti-creed leanings, but I was a tad disappointed in the choice of prayer for today as an extract from a creed.  Even so, the idea of  pausing to state what Christ is to me, to us, is a good one - so maybe I'll do that later!

The prayer as published...

I believe in... Jesus Christ, [God's] only Son, our Lord, who was conveived by the Holy Spirit , born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontious Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell;  the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God the Father ALmioghty; from thence he hsall come to judge the living and the dead... Amen

Christmas puddings! More than enough for the community Christmas Day lunch as I think this is meant to serve something like 72 people!!

Advent is definitely a time of buying lots of extra food, of getting ready for the day when people might eat a day's worth of calories in one meal.

I'm never too good at guessing how much food to buy, always preferring to get too much than too little. What I do like is getting together with others - especially those who are on the margins - to celebrate and enjoy each other's company.

Later this week I will serve a full Christmas dinner to a group of young adults - we may even crack open a Christmas pudding!

Today we meet St Pelagius, with whom is associated a heresy that pretty much boils down to rejection of the doctrine of original sin (see here).  Apparently, for around 30 years before he was deeemed to have become a heretic, he was a well respected theologian living and teaching in Rome.  It's always interesting which 'sound bites' become the 'truth' we unthinkiningly accept.

Seemingly, the reason Celtic saints and theologians went to Rome was to address what they saw as unbibilical and ungodly... which of course puts them on a level with the Reformers throughout these islands, and in western Europe who came to prominence more than a thousand years later.

Most of my adult life, I have claimed to be a 'happy heretic' and I still do.  If 'orthodoxy' means unquestioningly accepting what has 'always' been, then it's not healthy.  I like Brian MacLaren's term 'generous orthodoxy' which, as I recall it, measures orthodoxy by what it does (what some might call orthopraxy), allows for new understanding to emerge and has 'wriggle room' within it.

I also think that 'outliers' (a kinder word than heretics) are important for the health of the Church.  In ecumenical circles, Baptists (or at least baptistic churches) offer an important corrective to a 'norm' of infant baptism.  Likewise, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches provide a perpsective on sacramentalism that would otherwise be lost.

Occasionally people say that 'heretics' are simply those whose time has not yet come.  Maybe that's true, or at least partly true - I guess many of the OT prophets would have been deemed 'dodgy' back in the day, and as for Jesus, the Nazarene Rabbi...

All of this has little or nothing to do with what I was meant to focus on, according to the book, but there you go, as I say, I'm a happy heretic.

Here, anyway, is the prayer:

Loving God, as I endeavour to obey the commands of Christ, may your love flow through me.  Give me more of your Spirit so that I can become more like Christ.  Amen.