It is a day unlike the rest
The remembrance of the event blessed
When God and man did unite
In the form of a babe born in the night
Proclaimed by angels
And by shepherds viewed
The reconciliation process
Now renewed
Padre
A Day Unlike the Rest
Christmas
A Matter of Communication
This past weekend, the Toastmasters club I belong to had its Christmas party. It was held (as are our meetings) in a lovely old pub on the border between Suffolk and Norfolk. The set Christmas carvery was wonderful, as usual, and I being pescatarian had the veggie nut roast option. With that said, I found it hilarious to watch members of a club centred on communications skills try to play charades. Let’s put it this way, with members from the US, UK, the Philippines, and more, we faced a bit of a communications dilemma when we couldn’t use our words. Some was cultural. For instance before the games even started there was a need to clarify what was meant by a Christmas cracker, and a panto. But then the miming began for the charades. Our resident Disney enthusiast was able to decipher anything from that quarter, and another member was just a natural. The rest of us, however, definitely lost something in translation. Maybe we should build up our skill set and do an entire table topics in charades format (or not).
A big shout out to the Ram staff for a lovely meal, and a merry Christmas to all.
Padre
Name
It might seem to many – a thing insane
That I attach such reverence to a name
That they might use day to day
As an utterance quite profane
It is the time though – of the year
When the name is on the radio
Broadcast for all to hear
Of mangers, and wise men, shepherds and more
The radio blasts them out – score after score
And at the end of this season all too brief
The name of Jesus will again come to grief
Why is it that their hearts are so base
That they don’t see the folly and the disgrace?
Padre
Blocked and Stopped
It wasn’t a normal day in Santa’s workshop
All the work had come to a full stop
It was all because of the strike
Brought by the E. L. F. the proceeding night
The Elven and Leprechaun Federation had had enough
Of labouring for just cocoa and other sweet stuff
They wanted and demanded better conditions too
Like paid vacation for a week or two
That Nick is a shrewd negotiator
For he gave them phased concessions
Starting a date next year and others even later
Padre
Christmas Wish
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 Cheer
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
Oh, Come Emmanuel
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
Journey
To Bethlehem at Caesar’s behest
Mary journeyed in need of rest
And though no space at the inn was found
She was forced to give birth in a stable’s ground
Her babe small and innocent that day
Was placed in a manger’s hay
Her journey though was far from complete
For soon to Egypt she would be forced to retreat
Such a rough beginning – a tale so sad
Is in reality one of joy to make us glad
For it set the stage of things to come
Our salvation though the birth of that Holy One
Padre
Reflections On A Star
The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn has just passed after an absence of hundreds of years. Some call this the Christmas Star or the Bethlehem Star. In this year of fires, floods, racial and social unrest, and a world-wide pandemic it is perhaps a time to take stock and to reflect on the story not of this planetary alignment, but of the star of the Gospel account. It was a harbinger of the coming of Emmanuel, God with us. It marked a transition in our relationship with the divine. The age of the Fall of Adam was coming to an end, and a promised saviour, the Messiah had come.
That did not mean that wars and rumours of wars, or fires, floods, and misfortune were coming to an end – 2020 surely shows us that. What it does say is there is a hope that is greater than those trials that is opened to us.
As I was reflecting on this I picked three YouTube videos to share which capture some of my thoughts. The first speaks of the coming of Emmanuel. The other two of the stresses and strains that Mary, the mother of Jesus may have faced in her obedience to God’s call. That obedience in the face of uncertainty and surely fears is a telling example for us all.
I wish all of you a happy Christmas, and pray that what ever the future holds for us, that we might cling to the Emmanuel – God with us.
Padre
Waiting Game
S&B Vonlanthen at Unsplash
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 