Christmas Day at the Gathering Place... and lunch for almost forty... despite severe weather and absolutely no public transport they kept arriving until we had a full house...

A Japanese PhD student... a squaddie... people with addictions... elderly spinsters... Nigerian post grads... people with mental health problems...  church folk giving up their day to cook or serve... 

All around one table. 

You tell me that's not a foretaste of the heavenly banquet...

(In the end there were three spare seats, possibly because people ate standing up, I like to imagine they were just in case the Holy Family showed up...)

Advance posting because I will be at church most of the day, worshipping and eating.

Just to say, THANK YOU for reading my ramblings over yet another year and for your comments at various points along the way (either on or off blog).  And especially THANK YOU for your support as I've climbed Mt Chemo (almost there now) and other unchosen adventures over the last four months.

I do wish you all a really Happy and Joy-filled Christmas and a Healthy and Hope-filled 2011.

May God bless you all with love to give away,

Catriona

PS There may be a bit of a break in blogging as I take a few days out, so don't panic if this place is quieter than usual!

At various points in the last twenty five years I have used these lyrics as the basis of a prayer at Christmas:

But say a prayer,
pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard,
but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window,
and it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them
instead of you

Feed the World (Do They KNow it's Christmas)

In very different contexts people have been moved (in a good way!) by the use of these words in worship.

A call to count our blessings, a call to pray for those outside our windows - literally and metaphorically - that seems like half-decent theology to me.  And on Christmas Eve as I am anticipating a good day it is timely to pause and reflect...

One of my favourite parts of Christmas Eve is when the shops shut.  Dependent on where you live in the UK the time will differ.  I recall that when I was a child it was usually about 4:30p.m.  As an adult it has been as late 10 p.m. especially if you live near a 'corner shop'.  But whatever time it is, for me the 'magic' starts when it is no longer possible to buy that last minute thing - be it cranberries (as per the rather cheesy song) or a gift for great uncle Wilf who arrived unexpectedly.  The tills stop beeping, the shutters come down and for just a day there is a 'general pause' (yes, I know a few shops open but go with me!) if you don't have it now, you'll have to do without... for me that breings a sense of relief!

As darkness falls, just for a moment things are still, no commerce, no bustle, just a sense of anticipation...

Perhaps we really are on the verge of something special...

May it be so.

I think this did what it said on the tin - gave us a nativity play which ended with a nice stable tableau not so very different from the one most Sunday Schools offer.  But at the same time it had some nice touches that challenge the saccharine sweetness of the familiar.  I am saddened that some Jews and some Christians have found it offensive, but I fear that says more about them than about the portrayal.

For me, the highlight was the portrayal of Joseph, always a bit part player suddenly made important, as he must have been.  His delight in securing Mary's betrothal followed by his wretchedness and anger when she turned up obviously pregnant and even his wrestling with the angel's message in his dream were convincing and valuable.

Although offensive to some Jews, the portrayal of Mary's treatment was an important aspect of the story, reflecting the society in which she lived and the scandalous nature of her pregnancy.  I fear anyone reading across from the characters in the story to real life 21st century Jews in diaspora is missing the point and perpetuating old antagonisms.  Yes, Jews have been wrongly portrayed by Christians and there are many shameful things in our history, but let's be grown up here.

Likewise the extreme Christian views that this is a liberalisation of the story bug me - it is no more and no less interpretive than any other nativity, and a darned sight better than most.  There were some clever touches such as putting bits of gospel in to the mouths of the magi that allowed the story teller to make this a theological telling.

The purists won't like the ending with kings and shepherds kneeling like a classic nativity set, but I'm not really sure what else we expected... it is too complicated to separate them out and try to interpolate Luke and Matthew as a coherent whole.  And would we really want Holy Innocents before Christmas..? I reckon not.

Overall I think it was a good effort, well delivered and avoided sentimentalisation of the story.  If it scandalised some, well that sounds fairly authentic to who JC was/is...