Telling the story

Donkeys, camels, shepherds,sheep
Wise men, inn keepers, angels, stars
All the pieces we've gathered together
to tell the story
It's a story that needs
little embellishment
Amazing as it is
But, somehow, we feel the need
to disguise the starkness,
to dress up the poverty
For the reality
is too much to handle
To see the Christ child born
among the poor
and the oppressed
hidden in the hovels
of today
demands that we confront the reality
that in 2000 years
little has changed.
Today's world needs
God with us
more than ever
And so we continue
wherever
however we can
to tell the story
of God born
among us today.


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Revisionists?

How quickly we rewrite the stories
How completely we "clean up" the memories
Is it a case of not speaking ill of the dead?
Or is it that good deeds and influence
cancel out other misguided actions?
Perhaps it's even forgiveness prompting forgetfulness
Whatever underlies our cleaning up of memories
or our revision of history
we have an amazing ability
to focus on the feel-good
and gloss over
all that is less comfortable.
How often history is rewritten
during Advent
when we glamourise the starkness
of a child born into a dark
and menacing world
When we ignore how difficult
the pressures of the season
become for many estranged families
and isolated people
When we turn a blind eye
to the unreasonable demands
that ensuring Christmas is Merry
places on those grieving
or journeying through unfamiliar
and frightening landscapes.
Whether it be the story of a world leader
or the story of the Incarnation
neither need cleaning up
For both bear testament to Redemption -
The ability of God
to confront the murkiest reality
with the power of love
bringing goodness out of evil
Lighting up the dark
with incredible hope.
Bringing peace against all the odds.
Advent is a time for revision.


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Messy advent

Creativity is not wrought
in well ordered surroundings
or in regimented tidiness
but in chaos
and upset
and mess.
God does not wait
until we have tidied the study
or cleaned up the house
ready for the decorations.
God comes
into the midst
of our upset
and disarray.
And if we dare to imagine
that we can achieve the right conditions
and stop and wait expectantly
Still God will surprise us.
An unmarried mother
A little known town
An out of the way stable
Don't those things teach us anything?
God likes surprises!

Black and white and grey

The landscape of loss looms starkly
draining colour from everything around
Leaching the very soil
Mirrored in sea and sky
It brings a weariness
that is hard to shake off
but burrows in
like a parasite
sapping energy
feeding on melancholy
choking life
out of the brief intervals
of forgetfulness
or distraction
It gathers like a mist
weaving its tendrils
in and around
a city street
Building, building
until obscurity reigns
For a time
For a long time
vision is restricted
to a very narrow horizon
But, eventually, the view is expanded
and, as other shapes hove into view
the landscape begins to take on colour
slowly, gradually,
slightly out of focus.
And a creeping warmth
dispels the chill of loss
like the sun shining softly on the ocean.
The penetration is not complete
but it does make a difference
on the surface
loosening the grip
and softening the blow
until pain recedes
enough to imagine
seeing in colour again.


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The journey

Looking back
into the distance
glimpsing in the wake
the detritus of the ocean.
Imagining in the turmoil
the depths only hinted at
in the churning froth.
Every journey
is filled with discovery -
treasure yet to be uncovered.
lying in wait
for the one who takes the time
to dredge beneath the surface.
to sift the visible
and unearth what is hidden.
The wise leave early
allowing time
to savour the journey
arriving better prepared
at their destination.
But even those of us
who are by nature
last minute voyeurs
are still afforded brief insights
that linger long after
journeys end.


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Waiting

In quiet, subdued anticipation
God is
In frenzied impatience
God is
In joyful, building excitement
God is
And in sinking dragging worry
God is
The agony of waiting
- be it joyful or dreadful
Demands the presence
of the God of infinite wisdom and patience
Who waits beside us
and accompanies us through
every moment
matching our steps
carrying us through
with joyful swoop
or careful compassion.
In every waiting
God is.


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Finding light

The deeper the darkness
the brighter the light shines.
For love refuses
to be extinguished
by despair.
Resilience and hope
cannot be quenched
while the light of love
burns steadily,
fuelled by courage
and by compassion.
Look for the light
and there you will find love.

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