Words and Actions

Earlier this week I watched a programme called ‘Cowboy Builders’ where you hear of heart-rending stories of how people have been deceived by those who have carried out some work on their homes.  The gentleman in question last night had given unrealistic quotes for doing jobs and then demanded more money.  When the money was not forthcoming he just left the job in a total shambles causing problems for the family concerned.  At first he gave a good impression, showing photos and with smooth words and assurances but what he actually did was something quite different.  The Ronseal advert springs to mind when it says ‘It does what it says on the tin’.  We are all appalled at such behaviour and have no sympathy for the perpetrators but total sympathy for those affected.  We would never dream of doing something so unethical. 

Much has been revealed of late about priests who have not lived up to their chastity vows.  The recent Roman Catholic cardinal in Scotland resigned over such an issue.  In public he condemned homosexuality and sexual impropriety but privately was guilty of the things he spoke against.  One reporter said of him, ‘The outside and the inside don’t match’.  Again most of us read in horror of such things and cannot see ourselves in a similar situation.  But I can’t help wondering if in maybe different ways we don’t always live up to what we like to appear on the outside.  A friend of mine describes some people as ‘the outside is different from the inside’ and I think that is a good way of describing someone who isn’t always what you thought they were when you get to know them better. 

A few weeks ago I received an email (thank you Tommy) with a story about a lady who had to stop her car at some traffic lights.  The driver in front had stopped as the lights changed to amber forcing her to stop.  She was irate, swearing and gesturing suggesting that the light was only amber and that both had time to cross before it changed to red.  She went on shouting until a police officer knocked on her window and wanted to talk to her.  Asking her to step out of the car he said that he was taking her to the police station for questioning.  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  At the police station she had to wait in a cell until the issue was sorted.  The policeman eventually went back to her and said that they needed to check that she was the owner of the vehicle.  He explained that she had stickers on her car saying ‘What would Jesus do?’, ‘Follow me on Sunday to Church’ and ‘I chose Life’, and so when he saw her reaction and heard her swearing he thought the car must have been stolen.  This may be just a story but it kept me thinking. 

God sees the inside and knows our hearts.  We can’t fool Him but often other people only see the outside.  I pray that in me the outside and the inside may always match up and that people aren’t disappointed when they get to know me.  Or as the old gospel song says, ‘I want my life to tell for Jesus’.  People won’t buy it if it doesn’t do what it says on the outside of the tin.

Meeting Together

I have been thinking all this week about meeting together.  I love meeting up with friends, whether that be deliberately and planned or unintentionally.  It is a real pleasure to catch up with news and enjoy the company.  As Christians we are encouraged by Paul to keep meeting together in order to encourage each other.  Sadly though, most who belong to some part of the organised church consider that meeting together means in a particular building usually on a Sunday morning and probably a couple more times during the week.  The meeting usually consists of some singing, prayers and listening to someone preach on some verse(s) from the Bible.  This also infers that the same people meet at the same time in the same building most weeks.  The sad thing is that this is considered by such people as being the only way of meeting up and is often the accusation put before those who no longer congregate, that now they are ‘outside’ of the fellowship of the church and by association must be limited in their access to God.

How wrong that is!  As has often been stated before, the Church is the people and not a building.  Since leaving the organised meeting, I have found many new Christian friends while many of those that I had considered friends somehow don’t consider me to be one with them anymore.  I have found that the internet is a wonderful place to be connected to friends near and far.  I have reconnected with friends with whom I had lost touch over the past number of years and also been able to visit new friends Joanna and Ian Storie, a couple living in Latvia (I have written about this visit  before in previous blogs – see posts from September 18^th – 23^rd 2011) You can follow Jo’s blog here.  I follow blogs of other Christians and find great encouragement from their journeys, especially when much of what they write seems to echo what I am experiencing.  In fact my online friend Paul Leader blogged about this very subject only the other day.  With tongue in cheek, I’m inclined to say ‘great minds think alike!’ but really sense that it has more to do with the thread of God’s presence weaving its way through it all and connecting our thoughts.  You can find Paul’s blog here.

The flip side of the coin is that God is everywhere and this seems to become more apparent when we no longer keep him confined to a church building until the next Sunday when we come together and talk to Him again, seeking strength to last us through the coming week.  The truth is that wherever I am, God is there.  There is no ‘once a week fix’.  He is Emmanuel – God with us, always, everywhere, at any given moment.  On Thursday I received a daily meditation from Richard Rohr that said:

“God Is Everywhere” (Answer to Question 16 “Where is God?” in the old Baltimore Catechism) Meditation 5 of 52

You cannot not live in the presence of God. You are totally surrounded by God all the time and everywhere. You have no choice in the matter, except to bring it to consciousness. St. Patrick said it well in the prayer attributed to him: God beneath you, God in front of you, God behind you, God above you, God within you.

 (You can subscribe to these daily meditations at this website.)

So I have discovered that God is much bigger than we allow ourselves to think.  He has more friends He wants us to ‘meet’ with and encourage than just those who gather on a Sunday morning in a particular building.  My friends are all over the world and in all walks of life and circumstances.  I like how my online friend Paul once expressed it – it’s like dot-to-dot pictures and gradually with new friends and connections, God is joining up the dots and making a picture much bigger and better than we had ever imagined.  He is not confined to a building or even one place or area. I am finding out how to ‘do church’ differently.  I am learning new and different ways of meeting together so that my horizons have grown bigger and wider.  And I am learning to recognise His touch, voice and teaching all around me in the day to day living and in things that happen.  I am not advocating that the organised building meeting isn’t the way.  For those who find it helpful and good, I’m happy for you and pray you find fulfilment in it.  But I am saying that this is not the only way and that those who find an alternative way of meeting and worship are equally acceptable in God’s sight.  Our God is a great big God!  Amen!

Rethinking - a woman's place

I follow a blog called ASBO Jesus and this latest post made me smile

We see other religions and cultures and often criticise the way that they treat females.  And yet I can’t help feeling that Christians are not altogether blameless in this area.  We can quote scripture verses to back up our theories and in a way blame the Bible for our stance.  We say that after the fall God said that women would be subject to the males.  But thinking about it a bit more, does this not imply that before the fall that was not the case?  It was never God’s intention for it to be that way.  God sent His Son Jesus as a way of reversing the effects of the fall so surely that would also imply that after Jesus (the Christian movement in other words) things should be reversed also.  And yet much of the organised church today still makes a difference between the roles of men and women (although much of it is more open to change nowadays). 

We look at the story of Mary and Martha and see it as a lesson in being too busy to make time to sit at the Lord’s feet.  If that is all we see in this story then I think we miss a very important point.  At that time it was just not acceptable for women to sit at the feet of a teacher and listen.  That prerogative was only for the men.  A woman’s place was indeed ‘in the kitchen’, out of sight, in a place where they could serve the men.  But Jesus said that it was good that Mary was there listening to what He was saying.  It was almost as though He was not just telling Martha that but also showing the disciples that His message was for everyone as equals.  Jesus went out of His way to speak to the Samaritan woman, an absolute ‘no-no’ for any respectable Jewish man.  Time and time again He showed that women were (and are) just as important as men in every aspect of life.  The first message to be given about the good news of His resurrection was given to a woman to deliver to the disciples.  You could say that it was a woman who preached the very first gospel message.

Men and women are indeed different in their make-up, interests and abilities.  This is not about some women’s lib hysteria but what is important is equal opportunities for those who wish to serve God in whichever way they feel God is leading them.  I personally was fortunate in my younger days to belong to The Salvation Army where women are treated as equal – the founder William Booth is noted for saying ‘My best men are women!’  It’s time for Christians to stop pointing the finger at others and realise that they are not without guilt themselves.  If Christians really lived this truth then maybe other spheres of life would be influenced and changed.  And we should stop interpreting the Bible in such a way just to confirm our own sometimes blinkered viewpoints.  All this rethinking drives me back to the Bible, especially the words and actions of Jesus and try to see what the message is really about.  Maybe that’s why He has led so many out of the organised structure of church so that we no longer have any false loyalties that hinder us from seeing deeper into the truths of scripture. 

Rethinking - church

I am fortunate to be part of a very loving Christian family.  When I was a child, our place of worship was ‘The Salvation Army’.  I was involved in all the activities and enjoyed being part of it all, in my early twenties entering into full time ministry in this country and in South America.  Returning to England we attended the local Methodist congregation and again I was involved in various activities.  When I retired I moved to the south west of England and joined with fellow believers in a charismatic community church.  Again I participated where possible and helped in the charity shop connected with them.

I’m not what is known as a ‘church hopper’ going from one congregation to another but not settling in any.  My experience has been that wherever I was living at the time, to go where I felt comfortable and participate as much as possible and help in whatever way I could.  I soon realised that not all Christians are the same!  I mean that some groups expect certain attitudes about things while others take a different stance, some being more free and easy than others.  All this has led me back to the Bible and often I have found that what has been insisted by a certain group has in fact no real biblical foundation but is rather a tradition of that particular denomination.  Much of the activity and projects within a denomination are for the benefit of that particular group or their building and very often doesn’t lead to any benefit to God’s Kingdom.  It too often is all too self-centred, congregation-wise, to numerically build up the group – more bums on seats, as they say.   

It is so easy when attending a ‘church’ to be caught up in their particular teaching without question and live in a kind of spiritual bubble.  We accept whatever teaching we are given, being quite passive in our own search for God.  Our leader can often become more like a mini infallible pope where he/she can do no wrong and whatever he/she says must be taken on board and we are somehow accountable to them for our actions.  The ‘church’ comes to mean the building where a congregation meets – we often hear the question, ’which church do you go to?  In fact the Bible is very clear that the Church is not a building but people – the followers of Jesus, the Way.  Wherever we are as Christians, there is the Church.  For a few years now I have had no attachment to a particular denomination or group.  God is my Teacher and He is more than capable of revealing Himself to me.  And I am answerable to Him for my actions.  I don’t have to belong to a congregation in order to help others. My offering, instead of going to maintain a system with building and salaries, now actually goes to help those in need.  I search for God’s intimacy without any ‘thought police’ telling me what I should or shouldn’t think, read or watch.  I am not under law but under grace and it’s this grace that gives freedom. 

‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again with a yoke of slavery.’ (Galatians 5:1)  

Listening

Minsteracres Monastery near Hexham, Northumberland
where I used to go on retreat.

A number of years ago I had the custom every year of going on a three day silent retreat in a monastery a few miles from my home.  They were wonderful days spent with friends but in silence apart from the person who was leading the retreat and the one who each day was chosen to say the grace before any meal.  We ate in silence and walked around the grounds in silence.  There were no radios or mobile phones - a rare treat.  It was amazing though how on the last day when at dinner the silence was broken, it took much longer to eat our meal and people had to ask for the salt or bread or whatever whereas before everyone just noticed what each other needed and passed it to them - an interesting lesson!


I was aware this morning of the words, 'Be still and know that I am God'.  I began to reminisce about those blessed times that were spent in silence and so as I was in the house on my own today, I decided to spend a little time just sitting, listening.  At first it is difficult as the mind starts to race away with its own thoughts, organising things into the different compartments of the mind and using the time as a sort of quiet working/sorting out time instead of just being and listening.  When I did listen, I heard a few cars going by outside and then a louder vehicle - the bus that goes up the road.  It would come back again in the opposite direction in about 15 minutes on its way into town.  I heard the sounds of one of the children who lives next door as she was playing.  There was also the call of a wood pigeon as it sat on the chimney stack and the sound echoed down the chimney into the living room.  But through it all was the constant ticking of the clock on the wall.  It was like the regular heartbeat of time itself.

In the busyness of life, you're not usually aware of the sound of the clock ticking.  You only hear it when other noises have stopped.  But it is there constantly ticking away whether it is noticed or not.  How often do I get caught up in the busyness of everyday living, hearing the sounds of life happening all around but not always consciously aware of the heartbeat of God, constantly there whether I notice or not.  It's good to take time out and just listen - even for a few moments - to hear the sounds that are often drowned out by other louder noises, sounds that we don't usually hear.  In the quietness God often makes us aware of things that escape us during the busy everyday living.  Our minds are too busy organising and planning so we don’t hear other, less attention-grabbing sounds.  It is a good exercise that I'm glad I've recaptured and hope to do more often in order to hear what God is saying through the 'still small voice'.

Rethinking - marriage/divorce

My musings are about monogamous Christian marriage in Britain and not inclusive of any other religion as they differ greatly, some allowing various partners.

It wasn’t until the second century (about 110) that bishop Ignatius of Antioch wrote to bishop Polycarp of Smyrna:

"It becomes both men and women who marry, to form their union with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God, and not after their own lust.”

So the whole idea of a marriage ceremony being connected with the Christian religion doesn't seem to have been the case in the first century church.  It wasn’t until the 16^th century that parental consent along with consent from the church became a necessary requirement.  Nowadays parental consent is only needed when one or both parties are under the marital age stipulated by law.

Divorce has been around as long as marriage.  Originally, it was enough for a man to state that he divorced his wife for it to be so.  In Old Testament times, it was not considered to be God’s will but little was actually done about it as it was such a common practice.  Jesus did speak against divorce saying that it was not what God had intended but also recognised the fact that life doesn’t always go according to plan.  After the 10^th century however, marriage was not available in this country until a few centuries later and then only for men of sufficient wealth to pay for the very expensive act of parliament required to grant the divorce. It wasn’t until the middle of the 19^th century that divorce was open to ordinary people.  It was still difficult for women to apply for a divorce as they not only had to prove adultery of the husband but also other serious problems such as rape, incest or cruelty.  It is a recognised fact that divorce is more common now than ever before but this is probably in part to the laws being changed and the fact that both men and women can apply on equal terms. 

In a survey done in 2004, the main causes for divorce were: adultery, extramarital affairs and infidelity – 27%; domestic violence – 17%; midlife crisis – 13%; addictions e.g. alcoholism or gambling – 6% and workaholism – 6%.  In the survey 93% of the divorces were petitioned by women and very few of them were contested.  Modern life differs greatly from only a century ago.  Women have careers and work outside of the home and the roles of husband and wife are different for each family depending on their work situation.  This can cause added strain on relationships and the rules of yesteryear no longer seem so relevant.  In 2009 it was recorded that in Britain 45% of marriages end in divorce, the number rising for second marriages.  This leads to larger and more complex family connections with ex-partners re-marrying and having other children. 

Family life is no longer so straight forward.  Marriage for life is still the hope for Christians but circumstances can change until sometimes to continue in the marriage can become intolerable.  I was quite taken aback and upset only a few months ago when a relative said that she felt she was unable to share on a social network, photos of her son’s recent marriage as both he and his new wife were both divorcees and most of their congregation disapproved of this.  This is not the case in many congregations but it is a sad reflection on the church as a whole (whatever any individual opinion may be) that those who are not part of the church construct feel that it is judgmental, exclusive and unwelcoming.  Those who are Christian and divorced are sometimes made to feel guilty of their past and unaccepted within the life of the church.  They mention their marital status in rather apologetic terms.  Life happens!  I’m sure God’s love reaches out to those who find themselves in such situations – maybe more so as they have need of some tender loving care.

While I still accept that marriage for life is the best thing, I acknowledge that often this is not what many experience.  Should someone who has made a mistake in their choice of marriage partner be condemned to pay for it for the rest of their lives?  Are they not entitled to find happiness and love because of some past mistake?  I have come across many who remain desperately unhappy in their marriage out of a sense of duty as a Christian and so feel necessity of ‘staying together’.  Surely if about half (45% in 2009 as mentioned before) of the adult married population are divorced then the church needs to be more relevant to the needs of people in the situations in which they find themselves today.  Maybe a little more tolerance, understanding, inclusive attitudes and a good dollop of mercy will help to show people that God does care about what happens in their lives. 

I must apologise for the way which this post looks. I wrote as normal but for some strange reason it has come out in white blocks!

Rethinking - sexuality

Some points of faith are never up for negotiation, like the belief that Jesus is the Son of God and that through His death and resurrection we can enjoy eternal life in God’s presence.  But there are some practices and culture changes that have occurred as humanity has progressed through the centuries – e.g. we no longer accept slavery as a way of life or burn people at the stake as witches because they use herbal remedies.  These practices we consider to be part of the ‘Dark Ages’.  And so today I think that there are issues that we should address and not remain with a dinosaur mentality.  I have been rethinking a number of such issues and hope to share my thoughts over the coming days/weeks.

We have heard much in the media lately about same-sex marriage and the whole sexuality issue.  I have looked at Bible-based arguments of Christians against homosexuality and have found that there are also verses which the pro-gay lobby also quotes in their favour.  It seems that whatever your stance, you will probably find some Biblical verse to support your claims.  Most people will quote Leviticus – the Jewish book of Law and Practice.  But Paul in Galatians says that we are no longer under the law but under the grace of God.  So my first question was – as a Christian, am I bound by the Jewish Law as it is written in Leviticus?  Other parts of the book we easily disregard but hold onto these verses about sexuality. 

On the other hand, research has been carried out over several decades in various countries and the conclusion is that most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.  And I keep going back to the verse in Matthew 19v12 where Jesus Himself, when talking about marriage, says, ‘For some are eunuchs because they were born that way, others were made that way by men … … ‘  Does that mean that some are born castrated or that they are born not being attracted to the opposite sex?  Would such people today be classed as gay/lesbian?  Yet Jesus accepts that this is a reality, some people just are that way inclined.

In the church of the 1^st century, Philip was told by God to go to the desert road where he encountered an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading the book of Isaiah, searching for truth.  Philip explained to him about Jesus and the eunuch was baptised.  Philip never questioned the man’s sexuality and as the directive came from God it is clear that God accepted him as he was.  Here was someone who would never be able to become heterosexual, no matter how much prayer and re-education he may receive (as many Christians believe is the answer nowadays) yet God cared for him and sent Philip to show him the way and baptise him, while still being a eunuch.

I have recently read a very well-written article by Steve Chalke (for the non-British he is a very well respected church leader) where he talks about the debate of the moment of same-sex marriage.  He says,

I'm worried that the noise of the arguments around gay marriage will cloud and confuse the real question for the Church, which is about the nature of inclusion. I am convinced that it is only as the Christian community grapples with this that we will find wise answers, not only regarding gay marriage, but also to related questions around the Church's wider attitude to gay people.

(You can read the full article here.) 

 Time and time again Jesus says and shows by his actions that His message is an all-inclusive gospel.  If we are to be brutally honest with ourselves, gay and lesbian people on the whole are not accepted in Christian circles.  We may accept them – on our terms but not as they are – unlike Philip in the book of Acts.  It is not our place to judge – that is God’s prerogative.  As Christians we are simply told to spread the gospel message, the rest is up to God.  Jesus died for all, regardless of sexual orientation.  He understood that some are that way inclined and said so.  So it seems to me that it is because I am a follower of Jesus that I should treat all with the same inclusive attitude and not exclude them from the kingdom where only God is judge. 

A Clear Out

Because of the bad weather yesterday, I decided not to go out but instead have a bit of a sort out.  After Christmas and a birthday the shelves and cupboards were looking very cramped and full.  So a sort out and declutter  were in order.  Believe it or not I have cassette tapes going back to the year dot!  I no longer use a cassette player (who does?) and so decided to get rid of them.  The charity shop in our street no longer takes tapes as they can't sell them and so it was in the bin with them ... ... except some that have a particular memory or special meaning for me and so are really hard to get rid of.  There were some of a very young Glen Campbell and does anyone remember Marty Robbins?  One tape was music of favourite films of the time - The Magnificent Seven, The Way We Were, Goldfinger, Lawrence of Arabia, A Summer Place ... ... Such memories of times long gone.

Apart from tapes I had a load of books that I had read and re-read I don't know how many times and they were taking up a lot of shelf space.  Now of course with Kindle and ebooks, again things have changed and the big, bulky and sometimes heavy books are no longer needed.  

How is it that cupboards seem to get cluttered with ornaments that never see the light of day?  I seem to be a magnet for knick-knacks that I don't use and they get pushed in a drawer or to the back of a cupboard.  Well, they are no more.  The snow is beginning to go and so this morning I bundled up those things I never use and took them up the street to the charity shop.  Ahh!!  That feels better!



It's amazing how good a clear out can make you feel.  It's almost a relief to get rid of things that you no longer use, want or need.  The house looks cleaner somehow with a bit more space.  The shelves aren't so cluttered and I can actually see what's in the cupboards.  I've been doing that with my own personal life and thoughts lately also.  I've mentally thrown a lot of old stuff out that was cluttering up my mind in order to move on and taking on board things that are more relevant to me now.  Some memories are, of course, very important to me and so I hold on to those.  They have had an influence on me and have made me the person I am but other things could hold me back in my onward journey in life.  I have changed my way of thinking about a number of things.  Who knows I might get round to blogging about them some day.

Presumptions

First I must say that there are no pictures today as I'm having problems with uploading them from My Pictures for some reason unknown to me!

Yesterday I went to my sister's house to spend a couple of hours together, as we do most weeks. I got the bus as usual in Stiby Road, showed the driver my bus pass and was about to tell him my destination when he handed me my ticket. The ticket printed out said that I was going from Stiby Road to the town centre. Actually I was going beyond that as far again on the other side of the town. But as most people getting on the bus at my stop go into town, the driver had presumed (wrongly) that I was going where most other people were going.

As my son and I share a house, we have on occasions received correspondence that is for both of us and addressed to Mr and Mrs Andradez. The sender presumed (wrongly) that we are husband and wife instead of mother and son. I can understand that usually a male and female of the same surname living in the same house would be a couple. I began to think how often I presume things about people that I don't actually know very well. It is easy to see someone and know a little about them and start building a picture about them that can sometimes be quite wrong, sometimes even offensive or hurtful. The tendency is to put people into categories, into boxes and treat them as a particular kind of person instead of an individual that might or might not be doing or thinking as most others in that situation might.

We presume certain things about Christianity too. Some think that going to a church building regularly is somehow a safe passage to Heaven. Yet Jesus says that not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter Heaven. So going through the motions, making the right noises and conforming to what the majority think is right is not in itself the key to the Kingdom. Some would say that if we follow God's leading and obey His voice then we are safe, that somehow we are protected in some sort of bubble, that it is some sort of insurance policy against mishaps and problems.  Again Jesus never promised that to His followers. In fact the Bible says that God makes the rain to fall equally on the bad and the good.  His promise is to guide us through difficulties not necessarily to avoid them altogether.  My friend Diane wrote in her blog about this. You can read what she says here under the post entitled 'Victory confused with Happiness'. 

So we need to take care not to presume that things are or will turn out a certain way. Follow God's leading - YES. Obey His voice -YES. But expect the unexpected, know that we can have troubles and dark days and uncertainties and times of being misunderstood. You may have made plans but don't presume that things will always turn out the way you thought they would. It's called life in the real world!

Looking back, looking forward

All the planning, adorning our homes, buying gifts and other preparations for Christmas have been and gone. They unfolded at their appropriate time as we celebrated the coming of Jesus into the world as a baby, each in our own way. It is now almost time to put everything back in their respective boxes and store them away for another year. In our home we had a wonderful family time together but my older son has now returned to his home in Cheshire and things are gradually returning to the way they were. The last couple of days we have tried to be creative in using up any left-overs. Yesterday the recycling lorry took away our torn Christmas wrapping paper, the varioius cardboard boxes and the empty bottles and so we begin to look forward to another year and whatever that will bring.



We look back over the past year and note things that have changed and hope for future dreams to be fulfilled. One of my favourite sayings is:

'Look back and thank god, look forward and trust Him.'

A few days ago I received an email with some noteworthy sayings that I am taking with me into the new year.

Happiness isn't a destination, it's the attitude with which to travel through life.

Objects were made to be used. People were made to be loved. Not the other way around.

A smile costs less than elecricity and gives off more light.

Friendship is one of the most beautiful gifts that God has given us to share.


I don't usually make New Year's resolutions but one I will try to keep is to live out those sayings.

Emmanuel

Part of God's beutiful creation (Malta)

We use the term ‘Emmanuel’ for Jesus particularly at this time of year – God with us.  Some seem to think that this means that God is ‘out there’ somewhere above and beyond and in humility comes ‘down here’ to humanity on planet Earth.  Others like St Francis see through their love of nature that God’s ‘footprints’ are everywhere in His creation.  It seems that the whole of God’s creation has a part of His DNA as it were.  You can see the likeness.  I quote from Fr Richard Rohr:

When God gives of God’s self, one of two things happens: either flesh is inspirited or spirit is enfleshed.  It is really very clear. I am somewhat amazed that more have not recognized this simple pattern: God’s will is incarnation.  And against all of our godly expectations, it appears that for God, matter really matters.  God, who is Spirit, chose to materialize!  We call it the Christ Mystery. Michael Angelo's 'Creation of Adam' This Creator of ours is patiently determined to put matter and spirit together, almost as if the one were not complete without the other.  This Lord of life seems to desire a perfect, but free, unification between body and soul.  So much so, in fact, that God appears to be willing to wait for the creatures to will and choose this unity for themselves - or it does not fully happen.  Our ‘yes’ really matters, just like Mary’s did. Adapted from Near Occasions of Grace, p. 5   In Genesis we learn that God created all things and He created humanity.  He breathed life into His creation – the Holy Spirit brooded over and breathed life into all things.  It has always been His desire to join together body and spirit – incarnation of Himself in humanity.  Sadly, we messed up and so in love, He sent His own Son to show us what He meant and make a way back for us.  Paul in his letter to the Romans says, “Do not tell yourself that you have to bring Christ down!” (10:6). And again I quote Fr Richard Rohr: He (Paul) knew that God had overcome the human-divine gap in the Christ Mystery. The issues of space and time have been overcome once and for all. God is here, not there.  The mystery of the Incarnation is precisely the repositioning of God in the material world once and forever. He is here!  All we have to do is accept and enjoy His presence. Happy Christmas!

 

Christmas Traditions -Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

The story of Rudolph began in 1939, invented by a man called Robert L May.  At the time he was employed by a company called Montgomery Ward in Chicago.  For a number of years the company had purchased and distributed children's colouring books at Christmastime as gifts for their loyal customers.  In 1939,they asked Robert May to create a book for them in order to save money and so he wrote the story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.  That year 2.4 million copies were handed out and despite hardship and a shortage of paper due to the war, over 6 million copies were distributed by 1946.

May got the idea for the story partly from the story of 'The Ugly Duckling' and partly from his own experience as he had often been taunted for his small, frail appearance as a youth and wanted to convey something of the feelings of someone who was thought of as a misfit in society.  He considered names like, Rollo and Reginald but finally decided on Rudolph for a name for the misfit reindeer.  The story was written in verse as a series of rhyming couplets.  As he went along he tested the story on his 4 year old daughter Barbara who loved it.




Sadly at the time of writing, his wife died and he was left with much debt because of medical bills but he was able to persuade the company president to give him the copyright in January 1947 so that his financial position was more secure.  The story was then printed commercially in 1947 and a 9 minute cartoon was produced in 1948.  This was shown in theatres.  May's brother-in-law wrote lyrics and a melody for the song 'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer' and so the Rudolph phenomenon was born.  Some musical artists turned it down, worried that it would interfere with the legend of Santa Claus until Gene Autry's wife persuaded him to record it.  It sold 2 million copies that same year and went on to be one of the best-selling songs of all time, second only to 'White Christmas'.  Rudolph is now a much loved Christmas character.

 

Christmas Traditions - Santa Claus

I guess that most people know that the name of Santa Claus has evolved from Saint Nicholas so it is interesting to follow the history of the tradition from those very early days.  It begins in the 4th century when Saint Nicholas was the Greek Christian bishop of Myra in what is modern day Turkey.  He was known to be a very generous man, especially devoted to children.  One legend in particular tells of how he gave money to the three daughters of a very poor devout Christian so that they would each have a dowrie for their future instead of having to raise money by becoming prostitutes.  He died and was buried in Myra in 340 AD but it is alleged that Italian sailors stole his body and took it to Bari, Italy in 1087.  There the popularity of Saint Nicholas increased throughout Europe.  He became the patron saint of Russia.  In Greece he was the patron saint of sailors while the French thought of him as the patron saint of lawyers and of children and travellers in Belgium.  Around the 12th century the churches created an official holiday for the Feast of Saint Nicholas on the 6th December.  After the Reformation, his followers dwindled but the tradition was kept alive mainly by the Dutch who called him Sint Nikolaas that eventually became Sinterklaas.  It was when the Dutch took the tradition to America in the 17th century that the name Santa Claus emerged.

A vintage Coca Cola advert of the 1930s

In Britain, in the 17th century there was the tradition of Father Christmas.  Pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a jolly, well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe.  He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas.  This character and the gift-giver of church history merged into Santa Claus.  It is often thought that the first images of the modern day Santa Claus with his red and white clothes was due to the advertising of Coca Cola in the 1930s.  In fact, according to church history the patron saint of Russia, Saint Nicholas was portrayed with a red cloak and the first mention of Santa Claus was in the American press of 1773.  He had lost his bishop’s apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat.  Santa Claus also  appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in the first few years of the twentieth century before the Coca Cola adverts.  But I guess that the adverts in the 1930s did much to popularise the image we now have of Santa Claus.

I do feel that it's a shame that the original idea of Saint Nicholas and his generosity together with the whole Father Christmas idea of giving gifts and cheer has somewhat been overtaken in our materialistically orientated ways of the 21st century.  I always remember as a child and asking my mother whether Santa Claus existed or not and her reply was, 'I believe in the spirit of giving at Christmas'.  That, of course began with God's greatest gift on the very first Christmas.

Christmas Traditions - Christmas Cracker

The Christmas Cracker was devised in 1847 by an English confectioner and stationery manufacturer. He was on holiday in Paris with his family at the time.  English sweets were sold loose from trays but his children discovered that in Paris bon-bons were sugar-coated lollies that were wrapped in coloured paper and the ends twisted.  He thought that this gave them a novelty appearance as well as being more hygienic to handle.  He liked the idea so much that on his return to England he wrapped his lollies and sweets in similar paper and, unwittingly, began the development of his own 'bon-bons'.

 

The original Christmas Crackers were called Bon-Bons and were quite small with fairly plain wrapping.  Later said confectioner changed the wrapping to be a little more colourful and then added the friction strip - two small strips of cardboard coated with a small amount of explosive powder joining them together.  When the strips were pulled apart, the friction of the strips rubbing one against the other caused the bang that we still know today.  The friction snap was also known as "Silver Fulminante" - a discovery in 1802 by Dottore Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli (1761-1818) Professor of chemistry at Pavia University, Italy.  It was also the custom in Italy to have a little trinket inside a chocolate Easter Egg and the English confectioner would have been aware of this.

Returning from the family holiday in Paris, he pooled these ideas together and so the Christmas Cracker was born, complete with a surprise novelty, paper hat, a piece of paper with a joke or motto suitable for the occasion and, of course, the all-important snap to make a bang when pulled apart.  Originally all the contents were handmade and assembled by hand.  The outer wrapping would then be artistically decorated with a bow. 

The custom of decorating the table with a cracker on every place setting was established and handed down over generations.  Now this is seen not just in England but in other countries also.  Other manufacturers soon began to imitate the idea and with international distribution becoming easier the whole industry went into mass production continuing until the present day.