In the darkness of my spirit
When my blindness masks my sight
I will dance! dance! dance!
I will sing! sing! sing!
Of the coming of the light.
THEME: The Interplay Between the Inner and Outer Worlds. The Journey to the place where we once began
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The outside shed where Jesus lay
Was home to goat and ox;
It was a dirty place to be;
Fit for the shepherds’ flocks;
If passion urges us to take
Our inner dragon’s life;
If we think Michael’ s sword of force
Can quell our inner strife
When I pray to you for help, O God,
Do I hope that you will intervene,
Treating me as powerless as a child
Who can do no more than kick or scream?
As a human being come of age
Help me work with you to earth each dream.
If we allowed ourselves to meet God everywhere, each day would become a Christmas.
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In the mild mid-summer pleasant winds can blow;
Balmy zephyrs soothe us; wafting to and fro;
Christmas is a time to move into the world of
images and dreams, a time to allow the ‘make
believe’ happen. Let us be still and reflective.
Who is this Herod in my heart
That seeks to kill the child?
It is the one who measures life
Till all is weighed and filed;
I am greater than my thinking
Or the follies of my heart,
I can grow in self awareness
That promotes a brand new start,
When we discern Earth’s fractured face,
When parts diverge to form extremes,
Can joining hands suffice to build
A world fulfilling Gospel dreams?
Theme: Dreamtime Reality — Season of Hope
Thoughts for Reflection
To travel hopefully is the mark of a pilgrim. To believe one has arrived is the mark of the insecure.
I invite you into the way I celebrate Christmas. It may be different to the way you celebrate and think about Christmas, but I ask you to join me as I bring you into what I think can be a joyful way of celebration in the 21st Century. One of the biblical scholars has helped me crystallise what I find difficult about the traditional presentations of Christmas. Greg Jenks, in his book ‘Jesus then and Jesus now’ has asked the question, “Has the Jesus tradition become a giant fairy-tale for children, and little more than an annual exercise of ‘let’s pretend’ for grown-ups?” (Page 123) That is the question which plagues me every Christmas.
read moreWe are always part of the other
And the other is part of our-self
For nothing is as simple as it seems.
Tiptoe, softly, gently
To the Christmas stall;
Space where hope is singing
Peace on earth for all.
God is present in each baby
And throughout all time and space,
In the chaos and the order,
In each tender touch and face.
Amid the many thoughts
Of what we each might be
What images can help us live
With hope and dignity?
Celebrate at Christmas time
Light that only dark can birth,
Light in every baby’s eyes,
Gift of darkened realms of Earth.
