Lord, as we enter into the stillness where you are found, dwell in our hearts and at the heart of your world. AmenHow silently the wondrous gift is givenAfter the drama of a birth comes a moment of calm. Amidst the struggles of the world, at the centre of Christmas we find intimacy and peace: Jesus, held – and holding.Reading1 Kings 19.11-12The Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. ReflectionWe can become so busy preparing for Christmas that it’s over long before the food is finished or torn wrapping paper cleared. And have we had time to be present to the most important guest of all – Jesus, the heavenly guest whose arrival on earth our Christmas celebrations mark?Think of a guest who leaves you feeling heard, healed, replenished. My grandmother used to be like that – there for us. At the centre. The still centre. Often busy at the sink washing up or peeling potatoes – but always listening. It is only when such a guest leaves or passes on that you long for them to return. It’s in their attentiveness that you realise you are loved.Try today to make space to be attentive – to someone who needs to be heard, to the wonder of creation, to God’s still, small voice.I wonder...When you have experienced God’s presence? Where you feel closest to God? What God might say when you really listen?Lord, as we enter into the stillness where you are found, dwell in our hearts and at the heart of your world. Amen.
"Joy to the world! The Lord is come." John 1:1-14He came down to earth from heavenJoy to the world! The Lord is comeJesus enters the world as a child. Innocent, homeless, vulnerable, gulping for air. He depends on us – and our whole lives depend on him.ReadingJohn 1.1-14In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ReflectionAn artist once told me that when she first held her baby she was filled with incredible awe. Awe. Wonder. Astonishment. Holy fear.“All my life,” she said, “I have been learning to do things, to read, to write, to study at college to be an artist. Now suddenly here I am, holding a vulnerable life – a child who is totally dependent on me … and I realise no one has taught me to do this. And I feel this overwhelming protective love that I know instinctively I would give my life for."“My friends ask me if I will still have time to paint. But here I am holding the greatest work of living art in my own hands. And for the first time I know in my heart what unconditional love means.”I wonder...If you have ever experienced unconditional love? Where in your life you might see God’s glory? How the Word becoming flesh might change you?Lord Jesus Christ, teach me to love as you love, unconditionally. Let me hold you, Jesus, as you also hold me. Let your Word become flesh in me. And help me to see your presence in all things. Amen.
'The hopes and fears of all the years.'Our first Christmas reflection, written by Richard Carter from St Martin-in-the-Fields, encourages us to remember that God is with us in moments of hope and fear. The hopes and fears of all the yearsThink of the preparation that goes into giving birth – scans, plans, midwives and clinics. Now imagine having none of these – in a foreign city, on the streets and no one will let you in.ReadingLuke 2. 1-7In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ReflectionI spent many years as a priest in the South Pacific as chaplain to a religious community.It is Christmas night on the island of Nggela. I am about to lead the midnight service when a message comes. A teenage girl is having a baby. She is in agony and cannot deliver. Two of the community rush to find her alone on the dirt floor of an outside kitchen. She is screaming. The villagers know the baby has been conceived outside marriage. No one comes to help.“What did you do?” I ask them later.“We knelt down with her, and I said, ‘When Jesus was born, he was born just like this ... He is with you now.’ The child was born – and as she held her tiny baby, the whole night was filled with his light.”I wonder...What are your greatest fears? Your greatest hopes? How are they met in the birth of Jesus tonight?
