As December rolls in, no doubt with a chill in the air and perhaps a frost on the ground, we find ourselves preparing for another Christmas and another new year. I don’t know about you, (maybe it’s a vicar thing), but for me the month of December passes by so very quickly. With the Christmas preparations, plans, presents, decorations, get-togethers. Add into it some Christmas activities, nativity plays, Christmas fayres and the like and the month starts to fill up. Then add into that carol services, Christingles, and whatever else comes along, and the month is jam-packed and can easily carry us through without our feet touching the ground. And then its January. New start. New year. New plans. New resolutions….Advent – Christmas – Epiphany. The three church seasons we’ll journey through in December and January bring with them opportunities to pause, to reflect, to renew our thinking. And if it wasn’t for the busyness it would be the perfect triptych of seasons to do it.Advent – the season of waitingChristmas – the season to celebrate God’s saving work in the worldEpiphany – the season of newness, of encounterDecember and January come around and they can be expensive times, tiring times, challenging months, and yet at the heart of the three liturgical seasons is the reassuring cry of “God’s got this!”Perhaps in the busyness, we might pause and find perspective, maybe keep some moments of the diary clear, maybe rethink how much credit card debt we want to take on to buy gifts and pay for celebrations.Maybe there’s something to the simple idea that at the centre of those three festivals is a little baby, placed in a borrowed manger, in a cave/stable. Maybe such an idea might release us from some of the pressures this time of year brings.Whatever your situation, may God bless you this Advent, Christmas and Epiphany.BlessingsTim.
In October Clare and I went to the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle, to a production of Angela Carter’s, The Company of Wolves. It was fantastic. The production had garnered some excellent reviews from national newspapers and it really was a very thrilling and challenging piece. There was dancing, acrobatics, incredible lighting and a very simple but beautiful set design. The music was contemporary and pulsing. The whole piece was full of dark and light, brimming with red and white. A moral tale, a contemporary take on a fairytale, it could be a story of following expectations and rules, or going off with wild abandon. The style of certain aspects of the production reminded me of the classic 80’s vampire movie, The Lost Boys. The soundtrack reminded me of Blade Runner 2049 and the recent Dune films. Wow just wow. Clare and I don’t get out to the theatre much, maybe we should a bit more.Why am I writing about a no longer showing theatre performance? Because as I watched the production I was inspired - in the way that good art inspires. I was challenged, filled with awe and a little bit of terror at the acrobatics too.Life can seem like a full-on pelt towards whatever is next in the calendar. Days and weeks running by in a blur. I know personally, that I find it helpful to try to make space to be inspired, it keeps me thinking creatively and refreshes my soul.I wonder, what inspires you and are you making space for it?Peace.Tim.
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Chri….”sung like a lounge singer…“Stop that! Stop that!” shouted in a Monty Python style…It’s October, it’s too early to mention Chri…., you know the word.But the shops are already stocking up with plastic fangs and black capes and sachets of fake blood….And by the time you read the next Vicar’s Letter in the church magazine the fake blood and fangs you find in the shops…… Well they’ll have been replaced by sickly sweet mint candy canes and red furry hats made somewhere far away.The nights are drawing in…The leaves are turning brown…The conkers…. Well, they’ve gone…The hand has reached for the thermostat….And the annual search for the winter coats has already been scheduled for just a few weeks time.And if we’re not careful, we rush, and autumn is gone and done in a moment.But autumn is itself a treasure.It’s not the bright lights of Chri…, those bright lights on a string.Nor is it the pure, heat-filled delight of the three glorious days of summer spread between May and August…But autumn is no less a treasure.A time for slowing down. A time for Hygge. A time for packing summer things down,Not quite time for finding the box of Chri…. Of finding the decorations.But a time in its own right.And a time that is a very earthly, very earthy time to reflect.To notice the seasons passing. And the birds becoming quieter. A time to marvel at the silhouette’s of tree branches on cold autumn evenings as the sun begins to fade behind the horizon.A beautiful time.A time to be enjoyed.So enjoy it, before the hustle and bustle of Chr…Enjoy it before the hustle and bustle of winter is upon us.Maybe we’ll pass each other in the street, kicking leaves like childrenOr rushing inside to avoid another downpour.Take care, take it slow, and God bless you this Chri…God bless you this autumn as well!Tim
I’m at the stage in family life when I think of my calendar as running from September to August. Not from January to December like the years do! Nor from December to November like the church does!My life is still very much shaped by school and college terms. Clare has just finished college. And our children are in education, so gearing up for September always feels like gearing up to a new start! And in the life of our churches we have some really exciting new things starting!On Wednesdays from the 11th September we have Chatty Church starting at the Reading Room in Betley. 3:00-4:15pm. Chatty Church is a friendly and accessible way to explore faith while eating cake and drinking tea! It’s a term-time Fresh Expression of Church and you’d be most welcome to come along.In Madeley we are beginning a Parenting For Faith course which is a once a month course seeking to enable parents to flourish as they raise children of faith. It’s at All Saints’ in Madeley and the launch date is the 11th of September. 8:00-9:30pm. Also with refreshments. Please contact my colleague Ruth to find out more!And then on Saturday the 18th of September the Help For Heroes choir will be performing at All Saints’ at 7:30pm. Last year’s concert was FANTASTIC and this year’s will be brilliant too! Do come along and bring a donation if you can!I hope the new academic year begins well for you!BlessingsTim
