Reassuring

A very important wedding invitation.

We have a summer wedding to look forward to.  My elder son is tying the knot with his partner in June after spending the last 12-13 years as a single man.  The other day I went to the office in town to buy our travel tickets for the occasion from National Express.  (I like to be organised in good time)  I bought my senior coach card that allows me a discount and also the tickets for my other son and myself for a return journey.  The receptionist gave me the receipts and I left.  After I got home I looked for the tickets to put them in a safe place but could not find them.  I rummaged in my handbag - not there - and then in the shopping bag but to no avail.  Actually thinking about it, I didn't remember actually being given the tickets.  So I had to make another trip to the office to tell them that I have the receipts but couldn't find the tickets.  The person behind the desk checked and them handed me the tickets.  Apparently the person who served me had given me the receipts and my senior coach card but hadn't actually handed over the tickets.  Phew!  What a relief!  Partly to know that I hadn't mislaid them and would have to buy another set of tickets and partly to reassure me that I hadn't been so confused that I had forgotten where I had put them.  

A couple of weeks ago I took part in a set of tests for bowel cancer.  It's something I have done every couple of years for quite a long time now.  Still between doing the tests and getting the results, there is always that uncertain feeling, waiting for the results, even if you do feel absolutely fine.  This week I received the results and everything is normal.  Again what a relief.  It is reassuring to know that according to the test, I'm doing ok.  

The capped pipe.

This week also saw us having a visit from the gas man to have our annual service for our heating system.  I know the boiler is getting old but it serves us well and again it was reassuring to know that it passed with flying colours despite its age and so there is no extra expense at least for another year.  While he was here, the engineer noticed that we had taken the front off the gas fire as we never use it (I prefer to just use the radiators for all round warmth) He checked and suggested that he should actually cut the pipe leading to the fire and cap it to make sure that there is no gas escape.  He did exactly that and also taped the end of the open pipe so that no spiders or other small creatures could get in but wouldn't take any extra money (not even a tip to buy himself a pint) even though the extra work wasn't in his original remit.  He then did an extra check just to make sure that there was no escaping gas.  Again what reassurance to know that the expert had given his opinion and that there was nothing to worry about.

There are times in life when we get a little apprehensive about something that may or may not be life-changing but how good it is to receive that reassurance that actually we are doing ok.  Everything has been checked and there isn't a problem where we thought there might or could have been.  When we have doubts about things, especially spiritual matters, we can sometimes feel that we shouldn't talk about them or question what everyone else seems to take for granted.  Do you have any doubts or questions about what we're told we should believe or accept?  We would seldom mention anything to those who are considered to be 'experts' or 'professionals' in the matter in case we're criticized rather than listened to.  We would probably be considered a bit of a loose cannon or even heretic or having 'lost our faith'  So it's really good when someone else airs those same doubts.  It reassures us to know that we're not the only ones thinking that way and maybe we don't have a problem after all.  Many of the writers of the Bible, particularly of the Psalms, had no problem in questioning God and criticizing those considered to be leaders of their faith.  Jesus himself on many occasions disagreed with those in spiritual leadership in his day.  So maybe it's time for us all to stop keeping our doubts to ourselves. Who knows? We might discover that many others are on a similar wave length and actually we are doing ok and can reassure and encourage each other on our journey. 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere I go.  Shops have had their festive decorations up for quite some time.  Every time you go into town you can see people carrying boxes, wrapping paper and all things to do with the Christmas season.  As far as I am concerned, the cards have been bought and written - well most of them anyway.  Some need to be posted early to go abroad, others to different parts of the UK and others I can deliver by hand locally.  Presents are either bought or ordered.  Some are already wrapped but still quite a lot to do.  Tomorrow (Sunday) is the first Sunday of Advent.  The last day of November is when I usually sort out the tree and decorations ready to be in place for the 1st of December.  So I guess you could say 'it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'.  Or is it?  At least it's like what we in the west have made it become.

It's actually nothing like the very first Christmas.  How different!  There was no tinsel or decorations, no turkey dinner with family, no relaxing and being entertained.  The King of Kings was not surrounded by servants or lived in a palace with all the comforts of the hierarchical, rich lifestyle of those in authority.  Paul in his letter to the Philippians describes it as God emptying himself into the physical, human presence of his son.  This emptying was expressed by being born illegitimately to a young teenager in a place that was kept for the animals.  No family or friends to visit and celebrate.  Instead he was visited by lowly workers doing the night shift and foreigners who probably didn't even speak the same language as Mary and Joesph.  The subsequent years of his infancy were spent as a refugee, an asylum seeker, an immigrant in a foreign land.  He knew from experience what it was like to be hungry and a stranger and to be fed and accepted and taken in.  He had lived life in the lowly margins of society.  He emptied himself until there was no more to give.  

Having said all that, I do love Christmas and I love to celebrate as we do now with decorations, great food and exchanging of presents with loved ones.  And I don't suggest for one minute that we should stop doing that.  Be happy, enjoy time with family and friends, taste the good food, relax and enjoy the break but spare a thought for those who maybe have to work over the holidays.  Be thankful for what we have but remember that there are some who don't have a place to stay or family to share Christmas dinner with.  Some people now, instead of sending and posting Christmas cards, are giving the money they would have spent on that to a charity in order to help feed the hungry or give a bed to the homeless.  I must admit that I haven't done that, (I like the idea of greeting friends with a card) but I admire those who do. 

An activity that many engage in over the months leading up to Christmas is the filling of a shoebox with goodies to send to a child in some far away place.  This week I read of a young Filipino girl who 14 years ago received a shoebox at Christmas sent from a young boy in America through the very well known Operation Christmas Child scheme.  She was so grateful for that gift that she later tried to contact the boy to thank him.  She was unsuccessful but later in life, she was able through the social media to make contact with him .  Their friendship grew until recently they got married and for wedding presents they requested that people donate shoeboxes for the charity to continue the work that had brought them together.  You can read the full story here.

I guess that to make it really look like Christmas, we should enjoy the festivities but also give something of ourselves, empty out a little of the much that we have in order to help others, a kind of antidote to the madness of Black Friday.  That is the real message of Christmas and what God meant Christmas to look like.  'Insomuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me.'  Emmanuel - God emptying himself into every walk of life for all people everywhere.  That really is something to celebrate!