It is Easter-time again
With chocolate bunnies and marshmallow hens
But forgotten by many and remembered by few
Is the greatest miracle – God did do
For with the sacrifice of His Son
And following resurrection eternal life was won
For the grave – it could not hold
The King of Life – risen – as it was foretold
Padre
Day one
A beginning
The place to start
A new inning
So do not lose heart
It might not be easy
Resolutions to try
But most of “got ’em”
We might as well try
Padre
For some a morning festive
All exciting and bright
For others a day for a lie-in
After a celebratory night
Whether a day of presents and feasting
Or of hymns and religious rites
I wish you all a happy Christmas
Filled with your heart’s delights
Padre
Christmas gathering
Extended family’s din-din
Uncle Fred’s bad jokes
At the expense of his kin
Oh, what a din
Padre
Simplicity
Understated
Not by commercialism
Inundated
A space set aside
Within the home
To make the celebrations
All her own
Padre
https://crispinakemp.com/2021/12/22/crimsons-creative-challenge-163/
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
Pastor Vince gave an enlightening message yesterday in which he expanded on the passage above. This is the season when followers of Jesus focus on the prophecy and the implications of the child born in the City of David two thousand years ago.
One event in the life of this child that is born to us did tells us much of the fulfilment Isaiah’s prophecy. When Jesus was twelve years old (a year short of is Jewish age of majority) He accompanied Joseph and his mother to Jerusalem for the Passover.
Luke gives us some details in Chapter 2:
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
He will be called “wonderful” – filled with wonders – and here we find a child (yes, unto us a child is born) conversing with the teachers of the temple giving answers to their questions that “amazed” them, and “astonished” Mary and Joseph. That is wonder! Not only that, but his understanding showed Him to be a “counsellor.”
The account ends with Jesus pronouncing that He was in His Father’s house – The House of God – making Him “a Son given” and heir to God. Fulfilled is the prophecy that he is “mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” He is more that just a babe in a manger!
Padre
Mother and daughter
Standing side by side
Which wreath to buy
Trying to decide
“This one’s too little”
“This one to wide”
“One with a pink ribbon –
I just can’t abide”
Finally all tight and green
A pine twisted circle
On their door can be seen
Padre
It is a season when many feel the exuberance of the hunt. Finding that perfect gift or bargain becomes an end in itself. For others it is a time of fear and trepidation: the crowds, the expectations and the like weighing on them. Others still, remember a baby in a manger, three kings, a little lamb, and of course a little donkey.
The coming of the Christ-child becomes many things to many people, but its underlying message of Emmanuel is often lost. But the need of “God with us,” it is as important today as it was two thousand years ago.
Consumerism and the “hunt” underlies an emptiness which we feel needs filling. Fears and apprehensions – whether about the season, or racism, or Covid, or identity, etc. – still need the calming hand of God. It is also more than the trappings of a manger scene. That baby, whether accompanied by a lamb, little donkey, or panda bear (yes, I have seen one in a nativity play) was the ultimate gift of God’s own presence to a troubled human-kind. He came to redeem and comfort, to gift, and to be gifted.
Oh, come Emmanuel! Come and be the fulfilment of our sense of “missing something.” Come into our fears and anxieties and gently wipe them away. Come into our consciences and not just our decorations. Come Lord, into our lives.
Padre
The festival annual has come and gone
With wishes of well-being and joy
May this annum from the start
Find you secure and of good-heart
Padre
Fan Favourite Challenge #1 – SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT
Your ‘Same Same But Different’ task is to take the five challenge words and NOT use them in your writing. That’s right, you need to dig out your thesaurus and find a synonym for each word instead. Your words for the fan favourite challenge are:
Santa
Will come
So I’ll sit and wait
I don’t care if it’s getting late
I’ll sit right here
And not move away
Until I hear that roof top sleigh
If I get sleepy
And to tiredness succumb
Just cover me with blankets
Until he comes
Padre
Padre's Ramblings 