The dawn of Advent

Still, quiet, subdued

That early morning hush

The blanket of darkness

muffles the sound 

of coughs and splutters

of groans of pain

of silent weeping

Like a thick fog

it covers up

stark features

and masks reality for a while.

But soon it must lift

dissipated by the dawn.

Sound gradually returns

along with the light

such as it is.

Light and sound together

herald the beginning

of a new day.

And somewhere in that mix

the tenacious tendrils of hope

are interwoven

with the harsh reality

of a darkness that persists through the dawn

and a pain that is not eased by the daylight.

Hope has its work cut out

in a world gripped by fear and despair

But hope has been there before

and knows the value of waiting.

Hope possesses the skill 

and the stamina

to play a long game

to hold on 

And with patience and persistence

to break through

the darkness of pain

and the chill of loss

and the terrifying silence.

This Advent

our world waits with hope.

When hope is extinguished

Jeremiah 31:15-17

Thus says the Lord:

A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

because they are no more.

Thus says the Lord:

Keep your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears;

for there is a reward for your work,

says the Lord:

they shall come back from the land of the enemy;

there is hope for your future,

says the Lord:

your children shall come back to their own country.

A mother weeping for her children

Is there a sound more anguished?

The dry, hacking sobs

Or the full throated wail

Piercing the blackness

And rippling on

Breaching every barrier

Pulsing in every wavelength

Shaking the foundations

Of democracy and justice

There is no justice

For a mother whose arms are empty

No justice for a family and community in mourning

There is no justice for law enforcement

Charged with power 

Yet broken to the core

And all the splinters

And all the fragments

Cannot rise up and be healed

For the victims slain alongside a mother's child

Are hope and integrity and truth.

Today - refuse to be comforted

For justice is no more.

Maybe, just maybe tomorrow

We can look towards healing the brokenness

And salvaging some kind of peace 

But today let the noise of that wailing

Seep into your very fibre

And convict you

Of the travesty

That is a life not valued 

And justice broken beyond repair

Re-inventing Christmas?

As this year's Christmas Ads are released, I'm musing again on the elements required to create a perfect Christmas as portrayed by the bigger stores' advertising campaigns. 

I love the Magic and Sparkle fairies for M and S, though I wish they'd made them Angels instead of fairies. And the pair of penguins in the John Lewis Ad are heart-warming. I'm not so sure about all the kids searching for just the right thing in the Debenhams Ad.

But all of these - and others beside- portray the essential perfect Christmas elements variously as: Finding the right significant other, finding just the right gift, enjoying domestic harmony, if not bliss, a gift laden tree and a food laden table.

We know that that picture of Christmas is so far removed from the experience of many in our communities, far less across the world.

I confess that I wait with excitement each year to see what these big store ads will reveal. I track the journey of the Christmas Coca Cola truck too.

But somehow, this year, the millions spent on these advertising campaigns and the images portrayed cause me to stop and wonder.

How far we have moved from the starkness of an unmarried mother giving birth in a stable and, from such unlikely surroundings, giving hope to a people oppressed by the harshness of life.

The images portrayed today surely cause pain, not hope, for all sorts of reasons, for folk, whether in positions of privilege but knowing loss or for folk struggling to cope with the demands of everyday life, exacerbated by the pressures that a media fuelled Christmas applies.

It seems to me that we in the church must work all the harder to be simply inclusive this Christmas, embracing all with that simple message of hope backed up with love in action.

Remembrance Service

Looking out over the congregation 

gathered today

to remember.

Youngsters who have grown up in our midst

no older than those killed in war

Older folks who grew up with stories

of family members lost in war

Or with a silence from those

who found it too painful to speak

of all that they had seen and experienced

Or with the stigma of those who returned

forever damaged by doing their duty.

And then those for whom 

the loss and the memories

are very personal and still wound

Those who can picture

the lost and the maimed.

Alongside those that bit removed

but still scarred by the knock on effects

Noticing, too, the gaps in the congregation

of the ones who were not there today

who would rather remain at home 

on this Remembrance Day

Alone with their thoughts

Alone with their tears.

But each one

the young

the old

the absent

United in remembering

And in their remembering

pledging 

to find a way to peace.

Poetic Pastor

L

"Halloween is over - let Christmas begin!" Is just one of the comments I've seen on Facebook this week. This, along with today's release of the new John Lewis Christmas Ad, makes me long to "do" Advent properly. I try to be more intentional during Advent in taking time out to reflect and to get ready to celebrate God with us anew. This year, I've put together some of my reflections in a book so that others might share in moving through the season with a little space in their day.

From the wise men setting off on a contemplative mission long before the birth of Jesus, to the chaos of the infants' Nativity play, to the mess of the stable, these reflections take us on a journey - to meet God born among us - and then beyond, to pose the question: "What now?"

If you'd like to ponder these reflections as you "do" Advent, the book costs £5 including postage in the UK and $5 postage to US - just click on the Buy Now button at the top of the page and get ready for Advent!

Communion of Saints

Earlier this week, I attended the ordination of a friend to the ministry of word and sacrament. Nikki is part of the community of RevGalBlogPals, a supportive online network for women in ministry - and some men. The community has members across the world. To mark the occasion of Nikki's ordination, we decided to post pictures of ourselves in a red stole, the colour that symbolises the work of the Holy Spirit in the discernment of vocation. And so, for several hours, the RevGals facebook Admin team showered Nikki with good wishes and blessings - and lots of red.

Being able to attend the ordination in real life, I was moved, not just by the proceedings taking place in a rural Scottish Kirk but by the knowledge of that vast community of saints across the world who were there in spirit with us that night. While I have always been sensitive to the presence of saints, in heaven and on earth, there was something extra special about the virtual community of RevGal saints joining us from all airts and pairts, bringing an added dimension to an awesome occasion.