Christmas IlluminationThe sudden change of expression on my friend’s face convinced me she was, probably for the first time, and despite my stumbling words, hearing and understanding the Christian conviction that in the life of the man Jesus the eternal Creator God was really, astonishingly and wonderfully present among humankind. This is of course what St John meant when (as we hear read on Christmas Eve each year) he wrote: ‘No-one has ever seen God. It is Jesus the only Son of God … who has made him known.’ My friend looked a bit stunned, as well she might.Christmas trees will by now be lit up in many people’s windows, glittering LED cords will be wrapped around the gutters and downpipes of our homes, and a buzz will be heard in supermarkets announcing (in case we’d not otherwise noticed) the approach of our annual festivities. These customs make young children excited but I doubt if any adult’s breath will be taken away by just the thought or sight of Christmas decorations.But the birth of Jesus, announced as a simple story with extra-ordinary details – details that for many give it the ‘ring of truth’ (consider the persuasion necessary to get Joseph to go through with marriage to Mary; the sign for shepherds that a child would be found wrapped in cloths, laying in an animal’s food trough) - does retain the capacity to stop people in their tracks. The story takes on a new God-given dimension when we dare to consider that the child inexplicably, but jaw-droppingly and amazingly, was indeed Emmanuel - ‘God with us’.May God shine into our hearts, illumine our minds, and stop us in our tracks – and so bless us again this Christmas!The Rev’d Dr Richard HinesRural Dean for Wisbech Lynn Marshland richard.hines@outlook.com
As I write, the results of the recent UK General Election are being digested. We’ll all carry from this period in our nations’ history a particular memory of the fast-moving political developments of the last week. For myself, I’ve noted how often our new Prime Minister has referred to the privilege of having been ‘elected to serve’ our country as opposed to his party having ‘won power’. It was Pope Gregory the Great who first described his role as Servus servorum Dei (‘Servant of the Servants of God’), a title that has been used on papal documents ever since, and a designation that disturbs and challenges any inappropriately exalted estimation of the full range of other Christian leadership roles enacted today. And as if, by way of a divine prompt to me personally, my wife has surprised me with a card and a box of chocolates on this, the Fortieth Anniversary of my ordination as Deacon in Norwich Cathedral. I was ordained Priest in the same Cathedral the following year: but, like all priests, I remain in deacon’s ‘orders’ as well as priest’s ‘orders’. I remain essentially a servant. The word deacon means ‘servant’, and given the sobering words of Jesus, ‘Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all’, I have in my own way as much in mind to ponder at present as Sir Keir Starmer. One beautiful Christian prayer perfectly expresses this aspiration for all Christian people, lay and ordained: ‘Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service.’ Amen to that! The Rev’d Dr Richard Hines Rural Dean for Wisbech Lynn Marshland richard.hines@outlook.com
The Impossible (and Unnecessary) Choice The ever-popular BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs concludes each episode by asking its celebrity guest to choose just one luxury and one book for their imaginary far-away exile. They will already have The Bible and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare available - as if that wouldn’t be enough. I struggle to decide what book I’d choose: perhaps it might always be “the one I’m reading at the moment”. For many of us a favourite book is at once companion, doorway into another world, glimpse into the mind of its author, source of delight and more besides. For many years I foolishly pooh-poohed those (like my dear wife) who, as I thought, escaped everyday reality by reading novels. I wanted to deal with reality, things that matter. But mercifully, I now know better. My more recent cumulative experience of numerous readings of books such as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Hilary Mantel’s trilogy Wolf Hall and Marilyn Robinson’s four (so far) superlative Gilead novels, have transformed my understanding. There’s not much that beats a good book - other than a good friend with whom to endlessly enthuse, discuss and share one’s favourites. ‘Mind you’, quipped Professor C S Lewis, ‘a book’s no good to me until I’ve read it two or three times.’ Well, goodness knows how many times I’ve read parts of The Bible and still I wouldn’t want to live without that very close to hand. I confess, I’ve yet to make a proper start on Shakespeare, so a challenge awaits. However, for sheer absorption, imagination, profound insight, tears and laughter, give me Tolkien’s masterpiece. But, oh what a relief … I don’t have to choose! The Rev’d Dr Richard Hines Rural Dean for Wisbech Lynn Marshland richard.hines@outlook.com
Counting the cost of Christmas In late October, the popular BBC R4 consumer programme You and Yours asked how much listeners planned to spend this Christmas? It signalled the start of our annual national anxiety fest, as once again we heap countless unrealistic expectations upon each other. All will be focussed on ensuring at great cost that for one or two days in mid-winter everything will be ‘just right’, everybody warm, reassuring, peaceful and generous with each other. Truly, the year that soon draws to a close has brought many grim events – some of which continue to weigh heavily upon our collective human heart. The desire to blank out the darkness and despair is understandable. But an authentic Christian celebration of Christmas offers a realistic way of acknowledging that pain, expressing prayerful yearnings for justice and peace, and renewing the rich experience of shared communal blessings and joy. When, as the Gospel declares on Christmas Eve, ‘the Light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not overcome it’, it speaks of a conviction that the Eternal Creator God entered our time and space in Bethlehem, was born as Jesus to live, suffer violence and be killed - but also be raised by Resurrection from death. This was and remains the great Sign, Promise and Hope that God has, in our place and on our behalf, overcome humankind’s great enemy (death), and so turned a corner in human history. Our share in that unshakeable Hope and new life remains to this very day for each to receive. By listening carefully to the traditional Christmas readings in church, on radio or TV, and to the best Christmas carols, this enduring message can be heard again, strikingly and memorably expressed – and, in one sense, it’ll cost us not a penny. The Rev’d Dr Richard Hines Rural Dean for Wisbech Lynn Marshland richard.hines@outlook.com
Jesus said, ‘I came that all may have life, and have it abundantly.’ This year, the National Health Service, marks 75 years since it was first established. It was started because the government at that time believed everyone should be able to get healthcare - no matter how much or little money they had. Since earliest times, Christian doctors and nurses, inspired by the example and teaching of Jesus, have been at the forefront of efforts to alleviate human suffering, cure disease, and advance knowledge and understanding. It was Christians who began to change society's attitude towards the sick, disabled and dying. In AD 369, a man called Basil in Caesarea founded a 300-bed hospital. This was the first large-scale hospital for the seriously ill and disabled. It cared for victims of the plague and was the first of many built by the Church. It was not until the 18th century that the Christian hospital movement re-emerged. It reminded Christians to remember the poor and needy in their midst. They came to understand afresh that bodies needed tending as much as ‘souls’. New institutions were built by devout Christians for the 'sick poor', supported mainly by voluntary contributions. And Christians were at the forefront of the dispensary movement (the prototype of general practice), providing medical care for the urban poor. Indeed, modern nursing owes much to Christian influences. For centuries the majority of nursing, like most medicine, was carried out by monastic orders in their own hospitals. In many ways, the Christian faith and medicine are natural allies; medicine offers people unique opportunities to express their faith in practical caring for others, embodying the command of Christ: 'whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'. The Rev’d Dr Richard Hines Rural Dean
The little and large of meeting others As I write I’ve just logged off from a world-wide live-streamed Christian Conference. I’ve been watching thousands of mostly young attractive men and women, gathered in different venues in many nations around the globe, all linked up to the one Conference, based in the Royal Albert Hall. Wow! What a facility the internet is, and what extra-ordinary possibilities it offers for a certain kind of inter-personal communication! But I logged off early because it left me somewhat unmoved and feeling decidedly out of touch. I prefer the small-scale or one-to-one possibilities. I’m happier when I meet someone in the most ordinary of circumstances, where we can listen to and talk with each other, simply and quite privately – rather as I sense Jesus liked doing in his day. Amazingly, Jesus was criticised for taking so much interest in ordinary everyday people, irrespective of their supposed reputation or gender or age or faith tradition. But he had such gentle insight into and sincere concern for others. It was, as we say, ‘meat and drink’ to him. Indeed, he sometimes forgot to eat and drink because he was so preoccupied with others’ needs rather than his own. The first wise vicar who supervised me taught me by example that each and every person has their unique story and God’s infinite love and goodwill is as much for that one person as for another. That’s why I’m content to leave my large-gathering Christian friends to their internet style of meeting, and may God richly bless them. Meanwhile, I ask Him to help me go on noticing and enjoying the person next door, beside me in the queue, or who finds themselves standing alone somewhere – and, perhaps in that way, may He bless us too. The Rev’d Dr Richard Hines Rural Dean
Easter Believing It may come as a surprise to hear a Christian minister insist that no-one witnessed the resurrection – but I hasten to explain. Many witnessed the death of Jesus. Several watched his dead body placed in a rock-tomb and saw a large stone rolled in front as a seal. And on the third day following, some women, then later some disbelieving men, and finally a group of eleven together were initially stunned, then overwhelmingly thrilled, to see Jesus – evidently raised from death. They touched him, heard and saw him, and spoke with him. But I repeat, no-one witnessed his actual resurrection. Only a small pile of neatly folded graveclothes found in the tomb powerfully suggested what had happened. Every word of the New Testament part of the Bible was written after these events, and after the transforming experience at the festival of Pentecost when, fifty days later, the risen Jesus, by God’s Spirit, came to be present with the inner-most being of Christian believers. Still today, the same gift of a new life is given. That’s why Easter and indeed every Sunday (each ‘a little Easter’) can be such joyous occasions. Do join with us this Easter! The Rev’d Dr Richard Hines Rural Dean
