(An acrostic poem where the first letter of each line spells out the title of the poem)

Heaven’s gift of another year
As the old departs and the new is born,
Plans for a future and a hope
Preparing us for each new dawn.

Yesterday has gone forever,
New days and ventures lie ahead,
Even darkness turns to light
When we make the Lord our head.

Yielding to the Holy Spirit
Ever mindful that He’s there,
As we live our lives before Him
Rejoicing in His loving care.

By Megan Carter

Prayer for New Year 2021

 Dear Father God,
Here we are, nervously wobbling on the brink of this New Year. All our hopes, expectations, plans and possibilities for last year stolen by the relentless pandemic.
The landscape of our lives has been shaken and changed, Lord. Nothing is the same. Normality has been redefined. 2020 was a year like no other. How dare we move into the uncertainty of 2021?
Lord, we dare - because of the one, wonderful certainty we do have - that You have been with us through it all. Thank you that You sent Jesus to save us, to offer us that bigger reality of life for all eternity - if we put our trust in Him, Jesus, who never changes.
You promise that You will never leave us or forsake us. We will be able to navigate the challenges lie ahead, if we keep our eyes on Jesus, our compass; if we trust His Holy Spirit to lead us, however strange and unfamiliar the days of 2021 may be.
You are with us! You are with us! You are with us!
Thank you, Lord of the years, that You know and love each one of us, and that we are safe in Your hands. We can go forward.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Christmas Eve - How do you celebrate Christmas Eve?

It has its own customs, the most popular of which is going to Midnight Mass, or the Christ-Mas. This is the only Mass of the year that is allowed to start after sunset. In Catholic countries such as Spain, Italy and Poland, Midnight Mass is in fact the most important church service of the entire Christmas season, and many people traditionally fast beforehand. In other countries, such as Belgium and Denmark, people dine during the evening, and then go on to the Midnight Service.
The British are behind some countries when it comes to exchanging presents: in Germany, Sweden and Portugal the custom is to exchange on Christmas Eve. But the British are ahead of Serbia and Slovakia, where the Christmas tree is not even brought into the house and decorated until Christmas Eve.
Yule logs are not so popular since the decline of the fireplace, but traditionally it was lit on Christmas Eve from a bit of the previous year’s log, and then would be burned non-stop until 12th Night (6th January). Tradition also decreed that any greenery such as holly, ivy or mistletoe must wait until Christmas Eve until being brought into the house.

Believe in God and you’ll believe in miracles. Believe in the baby of Bethlehem, and you’ll experience one. - Anon

The Story is still the same!

'Christmas may look different, but the story is still the same!’ That’s the message for Christmas in 2020. Coronavirus will make our celebrations this year look very different from usual. However, the message of the baby born in Bethlehem is still relevant!
In one nativity play, the highlight was to illuminate Jesus, with a light in the manger, when all the other lights were turned off. At the appropriate time, all the lights went out, including the manger one. The silence was broken when one of the shepherds loudly whispered: ‘Hey, you turned off Jesus.’ Of course, nobody can turn off Jesus this Christmas!
The angels announced, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.’ (Luke 2: 10,11). The birth of this baby brings great joy and good news for everyone! As the king of the universe, He has come as our Saviour. In an uncertain world, He offers joy and hope, because He holds this pandemic in His hands. This is a real cause for joy!
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favour rests.’ (Luke 2:14). We may feel anything but peace amid the anxieties over our current circumstances. How can a Jewish infant born to a peasant family in first century Palestine bring peace to our lives today? Jesus established peace with God through His death on the cross. Trusting the Prince of Peace for our lives brings God’s peace amid the huge uncertainties we face. As the carol says, ‘Joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her King.’

Was Jesus really born on 25th December?

Almost certainly not. But the story of how that date came to be chosen as His ‘birthday’ is one that stretches back long before His birth.
It seems to have started on the Greek island of Rhodes in 283 BC. That year the solstice fell on 25th December, and it was also the year that the Ancient World’s largest Sun God statue – the 34 metre, 200 tonne Colossus of Rhodes, was consecrated.
By 46 BC, Julius Caesar had made 25th December the official winter solstice.
In AD 274, the Roman Emperer Aureilian chose the winter solstice to be the birthday of the Sun God. He also decreed that Sol Invictus (the unconquered sun) was ‘Lord of the Roman Empire’.
50 years after that, and Constantine had become the first pro-Christian Roman Emperor. He wanted the Church to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on 25thDecember. Perhaps it was that to him, Jesus was more or less the same person as the mighty Sun God. Or perhaps he felt that the ancient Sun God’s association with goodness, light, warmth and life would help ease the people’s transition from paganism to Christianity.
Whatever the reason, the Church went along with it, and chose 25th December to be the date of Christmas. And in an ancient mosaic in the crypt of St Peter’s Cathedral, Jesus is portrayed as adorned with sun rays and riding in a chariot – just like Sol Invictus.
As for the huge, bronze 200 tonne Sol Invictus? He fell over during an earthquake and was sold off for scrap metal in 654AD by an enterprising Arab scrap merchant. Meanwhile, Jesus lives on…

Who is ‘Santa Claus’?

On the whole British people are happy with the title ‘Father Christmas’, a suitably neutral name for the central character in children’s Christmases, writes David Winter.
In America, however, and by a process of cultural indoctrination increasingly in other English-speaking countries, the same red-coated and bearded fellow with his sack of presents is known as ‘Santa Claus’. They are, of course, one and the same person, distantly related to a bishop in Turkey in the fourth century (hence the red coat and hat – a cope and mitre originally). His name was Nicholas, and he was known as a patron of children, who would from time to time distribute gifts to them.
From that comes the practice of giving presents at Christmas. We can’t give them to Jesus on His birthday, so we give them to someone else, in love and gratitude. That, at least, is the theory. Quite how the massive commercialisation of such giving developed probably owes more to smart marketing than Christian generosity.
It’s not Nicholas’s fault, of course, nor of the Dutch Christians who took the practice to America as migrants 300 years ago. In any case, his feast day, 6th December, is when ‘Christmas’ presents are handed over in Holland.

Thank Dickens for Christmas as you know it!

 Ever wonder where many of our Christmas traditions come from? A surprising amount of our modern Christmas celebrations can be traced back to the well-loved story of ‘A Christmas Carol’, by Charles Dickens.
When you read ‘A Christmas Carol’, you discover almost a template of the ‘ideal Christmas’ which we still hold dear today. Dickens seems to have selected the best of the Christmas celebrations of his day (he ignored some of the odd excesses) and packaged them in such a way as to give us traditions that we could accommodate and treasure – more than a century later.
So, for instance, in A Christmas Carol, Christmas is a family day, with a family-centred feast. In a home decorated with holly and candles the characters enjoy a roast turkey, followed by Christmas pudding. They give their loved ones presents. Scrooge even gives donations to charity (!).
And all the while outside, there is snow and frost, while church bells ring, and carol singers sing, and hope for mulled wine. In ‘A Christmas Carol’ there is even a Father Christmas – in the shape of Christmas Present. Only the Christmas tree itself came later, when Prince Albert imported ‘a pretty German toy’ that won the heart of the English court, and hence the rest of Victorian society.

We three kings of Orient are... what?

“A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey, in. The way’s deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off, in solstitio brumali, the very dead of winter.” (TS Eliot)
It was 1622, and the Bishop of Winchester, Launcelot Andrews, was preaching a magnificent sermon to King James I. Reckoned one of the best preachers ever, Launcelot Andrews’ words were later taken up by T S Eliot and transformed into his wonderful poem ‘The Journey of the Magi’.
What a vivid picture – we can see it all! The camels’ breath steaming in the night air as the kings, in their gorgeous robes of silk and cloth-of-gold, and clutching their precious gifts, kneel to adore the baby in the manger.
Yet the Bible does not give us as much detail as some people think. Tradition down the centuries has added a great deal more. For instance, we know from St Matthew that the magi were ‘wise’, or learned men of some sort, but we do not know if they were kings or not. The Bible tells us there were several; tradition has decided upon three, and even named them: Balthassar, Melchior, and Caspar (or Gaspar). But the Bible does tell us that the magi gave baby Jesus three highly symbolic gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Gold stands for kingship, frankincense for worship, and myrrh for anointing – anticipating His death.
There is a lovely ancient mosaic in Ravenna, Italy, that is 1,500 years old. It depicts the wise men in oriental garb of trousers and Phrygian caps, carrying their gifts past palm trees towards the star that they followed... straight to Jesus.

Mistletoe’s smelly history.

 Did you know that the word ‘mistletoe’ means dung on a tree? The Anglo-Saxons thought that mistletoe grew in trees where birds had left their droppings. Mistel means dung, and tan means twig.

World’s oldest fake tree.

 Did you know that it is a family in Wiltshire, the Parkers, who claim to own the world’s oldest artificial Christmas tree? It was bought in 1886, and it is still put up every year.

The story of mince pies.

Did you know that mince pies have been traditional English Christmas fare since the Middle Ages, when meat was a key ingredient? The addition of spices, suet and alcohol to meat came about because it was an alternative to salting and smoking in order to preserve the food. Mince pies used to be a different shape - cradle-shaped with a pastry baby Jesus on top.

Why the world was ready for Christmas

Ever wonder why Jesus was born when He was? The Bible tells us that “when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son…” The Jewish people had been waiting for their Messiah for centuries. Why did God send Him precisely when He did?
Many biblical scholars believe that the ‘time had fully come’ for Jesus because of the politics of the time. The Roman Empire’s sheer size and dominance had achieved something unique in world history: the opportunity for travel from Bethlehem to Berwick on Tweed without ever crossing into ‘enemy territory’ or needing a ‘passport’.
For the first time ever, it was possible for ‘common’ people to travel wide and far, and quickly spread news and ideas. And all you needed were two languages - Greek to the east of Rome, and Latin to the west and north. You could set sail from Joppa (Tel Aviv) and head for any port on the Med. And the Roman roads ran straight and true throughout the empire.
So, the Roman Empire achieved something it never intended: it helped spread news of Christianity far and wide for 400 years. After that, the Empire crumbled, and the borders shut down. Not until the 19th century would people again roam so freely. The time for Jesus to be born, and for news of Him to be able to travel, had indeed ‘fully come’.

Why was Jesus born in a barn?

Our pretty Christmas cards do not do it justice – the stable that Jesus was born in would have been smelly, dirty, and full of mess. So why did God not provide something better for His beloved Son? Why let Joseph and Mary scrounge around until they ended up in a smelly stable?
Perhaps because the King of Kings being born in a foul stable is a perfect picture of redemption. Jesus came from glory into a world filled with the dirt, filth and darkness of sin. And Jesus was not put off by darkness in the least – instead, He came to be the Light of the World. Thank God for His unspeakable gift. No wonder the angels sang “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

Where did Christmas stockings come from?

No one is really sure, but a story is told of St Nicholas, a bishop who lived in the 4th century, who may have started the custom by accident. St Nicholas was of a wealthy family, and of a generous heart. As Christmas approached one year, he wanted to help a poor family whom he knew, but he did not want them to know it was him. So he climbed up on their roof on Christmas Eve and dropped some coins down the chimney.
The next morning the coins, to the great surprise of the family, were found in the stockings of the ladies, who had hung them to dry by the fire the night before. Every year after that they put their stockings out, in the hope that some more money would fall into them. They told the story of this amazing appearance to their friends and neighbours, and the custom caught on.

Where did Christmas trees come from?

There are two early stories that mention fir trees. The first involves St Boniface, who went to Germany in the 8th century as a missionary and found people sacrificing a child to their god under an oak tree. Boniface was appalled, and he rescued the child. He then chopped down the oak tree and found a tiny fir tree growing nearby. He gave this to the people and said: “This is a symbol of life. Whenever you look at this tree, remember the Christ-child who is the One who will give you life, because He gave His life for you.”
The second early fir tree story involves Martin Luther in the 16th century. It is said that one year he decided to drag a fir tree into his home and to decorate it with candles. He used it as a visual aid, telling people that the candles symbolised Jesus as the light of the world, and the evergreen tree symbolised the eternal life that Jesus gives to us. Many of the people who followed Luther were struck by the idea and took up the custom.

And there were shepherds…

Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus is brilliantly told – the angel’s visit to Mary to tell her she would be mother of the long-promised Messiah, the old priest in the Temple told by another angel that his wife would have a son to be called ‘John’, who would prepare the people of Israel for that event, and then Mary and Joseph making the 60 mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, as required by the Roman census. When they got there, no room at the inn, and they settled instead for a convenient stable, where Mary gave birth to a boy child.
Suddenly, Luke changes the tone. ‘And there were shepherds …’ – that’s what he actually wrote, just like that. ‘And there were shepherds’, doing exactly what shepherds do, looking after their flocks by night. But this night was different: yet another angelic message – a call to abandon their sheep and go into Bethlehem to see the baby Messiah. They were given directions and a ‘sign’ to identify Him. He would be lying in a feeding trough. Well, at least they would recognise that.
And why the shepherds, in this glorious story of our salvation? Because the event needed witnesses, and the chosen witnesses would be this bunch of scruffy, smelly shepherds straight from the sheep-pen. Nothing could speak more eloquently of God’s purpose than that. This was not a Saviour for the strong, rich and powerful, but for everybody. The carpenter and his wife guarded the Saviour of the world, and the very first witnesses were not kings or priests but a handful of shabby shepherds.

The man who married Mary

The traditional Nativity scene on our Christmas cards has Mary with the Holy Babe. Around her are the shepherds and Magi. We may also see stable animals, angels and a star! While Joseph is often included, his presence seems to be of minor importance.
After all, we praise God for Jesus with our familiar Christmas carols, mentioning angels, shepherds, Wise Men and Mary but the name of Joseph is absent! Why is Joseph given a low profile? For he is a man to be remembered.
Joseph was a resident of Nazareth. He worked as a carpenter and his skills would have included making furniture, repairing buildings and crafting agricultural tools. Although Joseph had an honourable profession, he would not have been a man of great wealth.
The gospel writers Matthew and Luke give Joseph a few brief mentions. After the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary go to the temple in Jerusalem to dedicate the Baby to God. Afterwards, they flee into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod and much later return to Nazareth. 12 years later, Mary and Joseph go with Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. Here they lose Jesus, only to find Him in the Temple talking with religious leaders!
Apart from these verses, the New Testament is silent about the rest of Joseph’s life. However, we do know that Joseph was father to other children by Mary. His four sons are named, and they had at least two daughters. (See Matthew 13:55)
And we also know that Joseph was someone who quietly and humbly took on the awesome role in caring for the early life of the Son of God. Joseph would have taught Jesus many things – not just the skills of a labourer, but the lore of the countryside which was evident in our Lord’s teaching. Jesus grew up within a loving family and described God as ‘Father’, knowing also the good fatherly qualities of Joseph.
In the Christmas story, Joseph is placed into a situation that brought him misunderstanding and suspicion. But Joseph remained faithful in the knowledge that as long as God had spoken, the opinion of others mattered little. Before Jesus began His ministry, it is believed that Joseph died. It is likely Jesus took on many of His father’s responsibilities before He left home.
In the eyes of the world, Joseph was a nobody. He was not a man of valour, fame and fortune. But he was the one who had parental responsibility for the greatest person who has ever lived!
It is sad that we often equate ordinariness with ineffectiveness. Down the ages, God has used many ordinary people to accomplish great things. God continues to use ordinary people. Like Joseph, we need to know that doing God’s will is the most important thing in life. May we, this Christmas, respond to God’s call to us and please Him in all that we do.

Why begin at midnight with Holy Communion?

The hour was first chosen at Rome in the fifth century to symbolise the idea that Christ was born at midnight – a mystical idea in no way hindered by historical evidence! No one knows the real hour of His birth.
Certainly, in recent times, Holy Communion at midnight on Christmas morning has proved popular with modern families. One British writer pointed out its “domestic convenience” in 1947: “for where there are children and no servants, husband and wife may be unable to communicate at any other time.” (So things don’t change, then!)

Christingle - a generous present from the Moravians

It is the Moravians whom we have to thank for bringing us the Christingle. Especially one Moravian clergyman: John de Watteville.
On 20th December 1747, John de Watteville was taking a children’s service in his Moravian church in Marienborn, Germany. He led the children in some hymns and read out verses which the children themselves had written to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Then he explained to the children that true happiness only comes through knowing Jesus. Jesus, said John de Watteville, “has kindled in each little heart a flame which keeps burning to their joy and our happiness”.
John de Watteville then went on to illustrate that ‘flame’. He gave each child a little lighted wax candle, tied around with a red ribbon. He ended his service with a little prayer: “Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these children’s hearts, that theirs like Thine become”.
The visual aid was a great success with the children; for the Marienborn Diary for that day concludes: “hereupon the children went full of joy with their lighted candles to their rooms and so went glad and happy to bed”.
The candle and red ribbon were remembered the following year, and the following after that.... The years came and went, and as the Moravians began to travel beyond Germany, so they took the custom with them: to Labrador, to Pennsylvania, to Tibet and Suriname, to the Caribbean and South Africa. In each country the Christians adapted it for their own use.
No one knows for certain when the word ‘Christingle’ was first used with regard to the custom. No one even knows where the word ‘Christingle’ comes from. Some people say it is from the old Saxon word ‘ingle’ (fire), meaning ‘Christ-fire or light’. Another theory is that it derives from the German ‘engel’ (angel), meaning ‘Christ-angel’.
In any event, the symbolism of Christingle gradually developed, until today the Moravians in the British Province use an orange, representing the world, with a lighted candle to represent Christ, the Light of the World. Nuts, raisins and sweets on cocktail sticks around the candle represent God’s bounty and goodness in providing the fruits of the earth. Red paper, forming a frill around the base of the candle, reminds us of the blood of Christ shed for all people on the cross at Calvary.
In Moravian churches, the Christingle Service is usually held on the Sunday before Christmas or on Christmas Eve. The website for the Moravian Church says: “We are glad that the Moravian Church has been able to make this contribution to the wider Christian world.”

The story of the Christingle

The word ‘Christingle’ actually means ‘Christ Light’, and celebrates the light of Jesus coming into the world. Stories of how the Christingle began look back to the Moravian Church, which is found in the Czech Republic. The Moravians have held Christingle services for more than 200 years, and according to them, this is how the first Christingle might have been made: Many years ago the children in a village were asked to bring a Christmas gift to put beside the crib in the church. One family was very poor, and had no money for gifts, but the three children were still determined to take something. The only nice thing they had was an orange, so they decided to give the Christ-child that.
But then they discovered the top was going green, so the eldest cut it out, and put a candle in the hole. To add some colour, one of the girls took a red ribbon from her hair and tied it around the middle of the orange. It was hard to make the ribbon stay still, so they fastened it in place with toothpicks. The toothpicks looked a bit bare, so the youngest child added some raisins to them.
The children took their decorated orange lantern to the church for the Christmas Mass. The other children sneered at their meagre gift, but the priest seized upon it with joy. He held it up as an example of the true understanding of the meaning of Christmas, for the following reasons: the orange is round, like the world; the candle gives us light in the dark, like the love of God; the red ribbon goes round the ‘world’, as a symbol of Christ’s blood, given for everyone; the four sticks point in all directions, and symbolise that God is over all: North, South, East and West; and the fruit and nuts remind us of God’s blessings.
The Children’s Society first introduced the Christingle Service to The Church of England in 1968, and it has since become a popular event in the church calendar. This candlelit celebration is an ideal way to share the key messages of the Christian faith, while helping to raise vital funds to help vulnerable children across the country. Visit: www.childrenssociety.org.uk

The History of Christmas.

The Bible does not give a date for the birth of Jesus. In the third century it was suggested that Jesus was conceived at the Spring equinox, 25th March, popularising the belief that He was born nine months later on 25th December. John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, encouraged Christians worldwide to make Christmas a holy day in about 400.
In the early Middle Ages, Christians celebrated a series of midwinter holy days. Epiphany (which recalls the visit to the infant Jesus of the wise men bearing gifts) was the climax of 12 days of Christmas, beginning on 25th December. The Emperor Charlemagne chose 25th December for his coronation in 800, and the prominence of Christmas Day rose. In England, William the Conqueror also chose 25th December for his coronation in 1066, and the date became a fixture both for religious observance and feasting.
Cooking a boar was a common feature of mediaeval Christmas feasts, and singing carols accompanied it. Writers of the time lament the fact that the true significance of Christmas was being lost because of partying. They condemn the rise of ‘misrule’ – drunken dancing and promiscuity. The day was a public holiday, and traditions of bringing evergreen foliage into the house and the exchange of gifts (usually on Epiphany) date from this time.
In the 17th century the rise of new Protestant denominations led to a rejection of many celebrations that were associated with Catholic Christianity. Christmas was one of them. After the execution of Charles I, England’s Puritan rulers made the celebration of Christmas illegal for 14 years. The restoration of Charles II ended the ban, but religious leaders continued to discourage excess, especially in Scotland. In Western Europe (but not world wide) the day for exchanging gifts changed from Epiphany (6th January) to Christmas Day. By the 1820s, the significance of Christmas was declining. Charles Dickens was one of several writers who sought to restore it. His novel A Christmas Carol was significant in reviving merriment during the festival. He emphasised charity and family reunions, alongside religious observance. Christmas trees, paper chains, cards and many well-known carols date from this time. So did the tradition of Boxing Day, on 26th December, when tradesmen who ha
d given reliable service during the year would collect ‘boxes’ of money or gifts from their customers. In Europe Santa Claus is the figure associated with the bringing of gifts. Santa Claus is a shortening of the name of Saint Nicholas, who was a Christian bishop in the fourth century in present-day Turkey. He was particularly noted for his care for children and for his generosity to the poor. By the Middle Ages his appearance, in red bishop’s robes and a mitre, was adored in the Netherlands and familiar across Europe.
Father Christmas dates from 17th century England, where he was a secular figure of good cheer (more associated with drunkenness than gifts). The transformation of Santa Claus into today’s Father Christmas started in New York in the 1880s, where his red robes and white beard became potent advertising symbols. In some countries (such as Latin America and Eastern Europe) the tradition attempts to combine the secular and religious elements by holding that Santa Claus makes children’s presents and then gives them to the baby Jesus to distribute.

The story behind the hymn: O Come, All ye Faithful

Nobody knows who wrote this well-loved Christmas carol. It was originally a Latin Christmas hymn, ‘Adeste Fidelis’. It seems to have first ‘surfaced’ in English due to a John Francis Wade, who lived in the 18th century, and who made his living copying manuscripts and, sometimes, music by hand. Wade was a Roman Catholic, and all services in the church at that time were conducted in Latin, and so he knew the language well.
The story goes that in about 1750 he slipped this hymn into a manuscript he was copying for the English Roman Catholic College in Lisbon, Portugal. 35 years later, in 1785, it turned up in the Portuguese Chapel in London, where it became known as the ‘Portuguese Hymn’. From there the hymn appears to have ‘travelled’ across to the Margaret Chapel in London’s West End. Young William Ewart Gladstone, who later became British Prime Minister, greatly appreciated the services at this church. He said that the congregation were “the most devout and happy that I have ever seen.” The minister at that time was Frederick Oakley, one of the leaders of the 19th century Oxford Movement, who was later to convert to Roman Catholicism. Oakley believed strongly in the power of religious symbols and fine music, and before he bade farewell to the Margaret Chapel, he introduced this hymn to the congregation. Having started as ‘Adeste Fidelis’, and been for a while ‘The Portuguese Hymn’, this hymn soon became known – and loved worldwide – as ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’.
O Come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ, the Lord!

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;

Christmas: Celebrating the Incarnation

C.S. Lewis called it the Grand Miracle and the Central Miracle. He noted that “Every other miracle prepares for this, exhibits this, or results from this...The fitness, and therefore credibility, of the particular miracles depend on their relations to the Grand Miracle.”
So if you can believe in Christmas – the incarnation of the Son of God: the Grand, the Central Miracle, you should have no problem believing the miracles in the Old Testament narratives or the miracle of the Virgin Birth, the miracles Jesus performed of feeding the multitudes, of His healing the sick, raising the dead, walking on water and calming the storms. You also need have no problem in believing in the bodily resurrection of Jesus and His ascension back into the heavenly realms, where He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords.
In other words, to believe the essence of the Christmas story is to believe the miracle that will open the pathway to faith and eternal life, a life of following this risen Jesus as your Lord. To understand and believe the truth of the Incarnation will not only transform your idea of Christmas—it will change your life now and your everlasting destiny.

Christmas can’t come too early Every year it happens.

I hear Christians lamenting how ‘Christmas comes earlier every year.’
Since this September (or before!) supermarkets, shops and garden centres have been selling Christmas jumpers, socks and pyjamas and all kinds of other seasonal merchandise. Should we be annoyed or exasperated? Should we have gone around reminding people that it’s much too early for tinsel and mistletoe?
This year, of all years, the answer from churches and Christians of all denominations must surely be a resounding ‘NO.’
As people began looking to Christmas for some light in the gloom of the pandemic – and hard-hit businesses desperately need to increase their income and chances of survival – it sounds a woefully wrong note if the Church is saying ‘hold back, it’s not time yet…’
Because Christmas is that time of year when increasing numbers of people want to come to church services and share in the story of the new-born King. It is when carols are played in shopping centres, and there are openings to speak of the meaning of the season.
Churches might not be able to host big indoor carol services this year, but the challenge is how we take the Christmas message out into the streets and neighbourhoods around our buildings.
This year has been one like no other for millions of people, with little prospect of better news into the New Year. So we need to be declaring the Christmas message of hope and light and joy in the darkness. And to be doing so at every opportunity.
But also, we need to be doing so with sensitivity and care, for the many who will find it hard to be celebrating this pandemic year, and with the prospect of large family gatherings in doubt because of Covid 19 regulations.
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell wrote in his 2009 book ‘Do Nothing Christmas is Coming’, “Christmas is one of the most joyful times of the year. It is also one of the most stressful. It is laden with expectations. It is often overtaken with grief. It might be the season of good will, but it can feel like the last straw on an already overburdened camel.” He added ruefully, “Wise men would not ride this one.”
Archbishop Cottrell is right that Christmas has to be approached sensitively, that we need to take care in how we celebrate, that for many people who have lost loved ones and livelihoods during this traumatic year, Christmas will not be easy.
We come alongside people with the news that the baby born in the manger grew up to be the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief, who experienced suffering and bereavement. God, born as Man, who shared our pain as well as our celebrations, ultimately died on a cross to rise again.
Our mission is to bring a message of hope, and to do so with love, humility and sensitivity to a hurting disorientated world – one that’s eager for light in the gloom.
The Revd Peter Crumpler is a Church of England priest in St Albans, Herts, a former Director of Communications with the CofE, and the author of ‘Responding to Post-Truth’ (Grove Books).

A prayer for Advent

Stir up our hearts, we beseech you, to prepare ourselves to receive your Son.
When He comes and knocks, may He find us not sleeping in sin,
But awake to righteousness,
Ceaselessly rejoicing in His love.
May our hearts and minds be so purified,
That we may be ready to receive His promise of eternal life.

from The Gelasian Sacramentary, c.500 (oldest official prayer book of the Western Church)

Andrew - first disciple of Jesus

Andrew, whose feast day ends the Christian year on 30th November, is probably best known to us as the patron saint of Scotland, though his only connection with the country is that some of his bones were reputedly transported in the 8th century to Fife and preserved at a church in a place now named St Andrews.
In fact, there are so many legends about him all over Europe and the Middle East that it’s safest to stick to what the Gospels tell us - though the strong tradition that he was martyred by crucifixion is probably true and is perpetuated in the ‘St Andrew’s Cross’, the ‘saltyre’ of Scotland.
The Gospels record that he was one of the first disciples of Jesus, and the very first to bring someone else to Christ - his own brother. Like many fervent Jews at the time Andrew and an unnamed companion had been drawn to the desert, to be taught by the charismatic prophet known to us as John
the Baptist. Many thought that he was the long-promised Messiah, but John insisted that he was not. ‘I am the voice crying in the wilderness,’ he told the crowds. ‘Prepare the way of the Lord! One comes after me who is greater than I am.’ So when one day John pointed out Jesus to Andrew and his friend and described him as the ‘Lamb of God’, the two young men assumed that the next stage of their spiritual search was about to unfold. So, as Jesus made off, they followed him.
All the more strange, then (though, on reflection, very true to human nature) that when Jesus turned and asked them what they were ‘seeking’, all they could come up with was a lame enquiry about his current place of residence: ‘where are you
staying?’ Or, perhaps, they were hinting that what they were seeking could not be dealt with in a brief conversation. If they could come to his lodgings, perhaps their burning questions might be answered. The reply of Jesus was the most straight-forward invitation anyone can receive: ‘Come and see’. Come and see what I’m like, what I do, the sort of person I am. What an invitation!
The results of their response were in this case life-changing - for themselves, and for many other people. Andrew brought his brother, Peter, to Jesus. The next day Jesus met Philip and
called him to ‘follow‘. Philip then brought Nathaniel. The little apostolic band who would carry the message of Jesus to the whole world was being formed. They came, they saw, they were conquered! And right at the front of the column, as it were, was Andrew, the first disciple of Jesus.

Advent

Why do we need Advent? Many people say: “I can understand God, but I can’t see where Jesus fits into the picture.”
A theologian called Athanasius, Egyptian by birth and Greek by education, gave the answer to your question 1600 years ago. He said: “The only system of thought into which Jesus Christ will fit is the one in which HE is the starting point!”
Once we try to begin with our own human-based attempt at understanding God and the meaning of life – let alone the place that Christ occupies – we’ll be like the man who tries to do up his shirt buttons, beginning with the wrong button. He may hope that it will all work out, and that the shirt will eventually fit properly, but it never will.
So, you need to begin with Christ, if you want the picture to make sense. He is right there in the Bible, from the start. All Creation finds both its origin and its fulfilment in Him, its rightful heir (Colossians 1:15-17). You will notice from Colossians 1:17 that, far from Christ fitting into our system, we can only ‘fit’ – and thus find coherence and meaning – in His… or rather, in HIM.
It is through Christ alone that we can know the face of God, and His salvation in our lives. Jesus is fully God and fully human, Christ – the God-Man – is the perfect mediator. By His saving death He has bridged the gulf between heaven and earth (Philippians 2:5-11).
No one else will do. That was the blazing conviction of those first-century Christians. Beside Christ there was no other name (Acts 4:12). Historically, Christ’s name claims supreme recognition in all the areas of life that matter most. It happened in the world of worship – where the Druids, ju-ju men, witch doctors, temple priests and the gigantic gods Mithras, Serapis, Diana, Jupiter and Venus were all swept away.
It also happened in the world of suffering. When we put the leaders of history and of thought together, it is quite clear that none of them suffered as Jesus did. In Him we see God incarnate, living among us, loving, suffering, dying and reclaiming. This fact alone is enough to explain the beginning of hospitals in our world. They were never begun by a state department. They owe their origin to the influence of Christ, and reflect His compassion.
It happened in the world of creativity. Christ has inspired symphonies, paintings, soaring architectures and enduring literature. Take Christ away, and the writings of Shakespeare would be meaningless. Atheism, by its very nature, could never have this impact, for atheism has no wings.
It happened in the world of eternity. The pre-Christian epitaphs say it all: ‘I was not, I was born, I lived, I am not, that is all’. ‘Guesswork is over all’, Xenophanes had written. Into that world exploded the message of Christ, bodily raised from death, never to die again. That message alone is enough to change our view of the entire universe. The universe itself only fits because of Christ.
By the Revd Richard Bewes, a former Rector of All Souls Langham Place, London

RSPCA launches emergency appeal in wake of Covid

The RSPCA has been overwhelmed this year by calls for help from people who are ill with Covid-19.
The animal welfare charity was swamped with 442,344 calls, and responded to 106,676 incidents of animals in need just between 24th March and 5th August. That averaged out at 790 incidents a day.
Such a volume of need was especially a challenge to meet, as the charity was working with fewer officers, due to ‘furlough, shielding and ill health’, a spokesman explained.
He went on: “As well as operating an emergency service, rescuing animals in need,
RSPCA officers have also been collecting animals from the homes of people who have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19, who may not have anyone else to care for them while their owners are being treated.”
The charity has now launched an emergency fund-raising appeal, and said that its front-line animal rescue and care teams have been “stretched to their limit”.
With about 6,400 animals in the care of the RSPCA across England and Wales, it is the largest animal welfare charity in the UK.

Why should you bother to pray?

The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon once said this of prayer: ‘God says to His own son: “Ask of Me and I will give you the nation for your inheritance.” [Psalm 2:7-8] If the royal and divine Son cannot be exempt from the rule of asking, that He may have; you and I cannot expect that rule to be relaxed in our favour. God will bless Elijah and send rain - but Elijah must pray for it.’ And God promises us that if we really seek Him, He will make sure that we find Him.

Ode to Job

What mysteries this book unfurls
Of a God who works His grand design
As a curtain is drawn in the heavenly realm
And plans are unveiled for all mankind.

Who can fathom His intricate workings
And the purposes that He has planned,
Or know the moving of His ways,
How could Job ever understand?

They came from afar to offer advice
Why all of this pain and woe should descend,
They wrestled with all that had happened to Job Alas, no comfort could they give their friend.

God speaks to Job, who then makes reply,
‘These are things too wonderful to understand’
Our knowledge like Job’s is only in part
The bigger picture is held in Deity’s hands.

By Megan Carter

Catherine is thought to have been a noble girl who lived in the 4th century.

She was persecuted for her Christianity, and despised marriage with the Emperor because she was a ‘bride of Christ’. According to the legend, Catherine was no push-over intellectually, either: she disputed successfully with 50 philosophers who were called in to convince her of the errors of Christianity.
Catherine protested against the persecution of Christians by Maxentius, and then she herself was tortured: broken on a wheel (later called Catherine wheel), but the machine then broke down itself, injuring bystanders. Catherine was then beheaded.
This legend strongly appealed to the Middle Age imagination. Catherine became the patron of young girls, students, philosophers, nurses and craftsmen such as wheelwrights, spinners and millers.
In England 62 churches were dedicated to her, and 170 medieval bells still bear her name. ‘Lives’, poems, miracle plays, stained-glass windows, panels and paintings have all been done in Catherine’s honour.

Church of England launches its Anti-Racism Taskforce

A Taskforce has been set up to ensure racial equality in the Church of England.
The Anti-Racism Taskforce will carry out preparatory work ahead of the launch of the Archbishops’ Commission to address racism in Spring next year. It is expected to complete its work by the end of January.
The Revd Sonia Barron, Co-Chair of the Taskforce, and a former adviser to the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, (CMEAC) said: “The Taskforce has been set up at a critical time in the history of the Church of England, with the Black Lives Matter movement pushing racial justice right up the agenda. The Church has an opportunity that it cannot afford to miss – we cannot just pay lip service to issues of racism as we have done for so long. It is vital that we listen to all the different voices out there and having listened, fulfil our mission as a Church, by taking appropriate action.”
Fewer than four per cent of serving clergy identify as being from a UKME background, according to the latest statistics.
The General Synod voted in February to apologise for racism experienced by UKME people in the Church of England since the arrival of the Windrush Generation.
Speaking to the General Synod, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said there was ‘no doubt’ that the Church of England was still ‘deeply institutionally racist’.

The Church is the only society in the world that never loses any of its members, even by death. – John Blanchard

Nurture your friendships

Lockdown has damaged our social life, so badly that many of our friendships may not be the same for up to a year after lockdown. And although Zoom is ‘extremely good’ at slowing down the rate of a friendship’s decay, ‘nothing on earth is going to stop a relationship quietly sliding away, if you don’t once in a while meet up physically.”
So warns an Oxford University academic, Robin Dunbar, who is an evolutionary psychology professor. He was talking to BBC Radio 4’s Today.

Diamonds are for lockdown… Here’s an unexpected outcome of Covid-19: it has inspired more of us to get engaged.
Engagement rings sales have risen this year, in some firms by up to 73 per cent, a survey of various jewellery firms has discovered.
When, at the beginning of lockdown, Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, suggested that couples could get round the coming isolation by moving in together, it seems that many listened to her.  They decided to give it a go and ‘test the strength of their relationship.’
“A lot of people have now resolved to go ahead and tie the knot,” said one jeweller. “Perhaps they are thinking: ‘life’s too short, let’s go for it’.”
Another jeweller said: “Maybe if you can make it through lockdown together, you can make it through anything.”  

Lord, prop us up!

There is a story of an old farmer who always prayed the same prayer at his church meeting. 'Lord, prop us up on our leanin' side’. After hearing this many times, his minister asked him one day quite what he meant.

The famer replied: “Well, it's like this... I’ve got an old barn out in one of my fields. It's been there a long time, and gone through a lot of storms. One day a few years ago I noticed that it was leaning to one side a bit. So, I went and got some poles and propped it up on its leaning side, so it wouldn't fall. Then I got to thinking about how much I was like that old barn. I've been around a long time, and seen plenty of storms in life. I was still standing, but I was also leaning a bit. So, I decided to ask the Lord to prop me up, too, on my leaning side.

Our ‘leaning side’ is where we are weakest in ourselves. Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, bitterness, bleakness in life. Then we too need to pray for God to prop us up, especially on that leaning side.  He wants us to stand tall and free, in Him.

Politicians are currently discussing the measures they should take to 'save' Christmas. This is somewhat bizarre - as Christmas does not need to be 'saved'. Here are some examples why the true meaning of Christmas does not need 'saving'. So let us go back to that first Christmas, 2000 years ago.
1. Judea was not in lockdown and therefore there were no travel restrictions and so Joseph and Mary were able to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
2. There were no restrictions on inns and hospitality venues. People were able to mix freely with people from other households from different areas - so much so that the inn was full and Joseph and Mary had to be put up in a stable.
3. The Inkeeper was able to do this as he had sufficient staff on the premises to check that they were ok - he did not have to furlough them.
4. Joseph was able to be present during the whole process of Mary's labour and Jesus' birth. He did not have to stand worrying outside.
5. There were no restrictions on choral singing - and therefore the angels were able to sing God's praises and inform the shepherds of the good news of the birth of the King of Kings.
6. There were no rules stating that masks had to be worn indoors and in public places - and no 'rule of six' - therefore the group of shepherds could all go together to visit the Holy Family in the stable.
7.There were no international quarantine regulations for international travellers - therefore the three Wise Men were able to visit and bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
8. It is not Christmas which needs to be 'saved' - but ourselves. The good news of Jesus' birth was the dawn of a new beginning - and God's love for us is the same - yesterday, today and forever - especially at this difficult time.
This Christmas is going to be hard for all of us as we can't celebrate in the way we normally do. But please do not talk about Christmas being cancelled. The heart of Christmas is very much alive in our lives and in our faith.

Fruit of the Spirit    (Gal 5:22,23, Ps 34:8)

Opportunities
To ripen your fruit in our lives,
Lord, give us opportunities.

To grow in your Spirit,
Know your warmth
And your light,
Allow the segments of
Self-control, gentleness,
Faithfulness, goodness,
Kindness, patience, peace and joy
To be lubricated and sweetened
By love,
Showing the world
Your nature transforming
Our natures,
In the fruit bowl of our lives
In Jesus.

Lord give opportunities
For the hungry to taste
Your ripening fruit in us,
See that you are good
And come to you.
Amen

A grain of sand at a time

This autumn, do you feel overwhelmed with all the things that you need to get done?   Then think of your life as an hourglass. There are thousands of grains of sand in the top of the hourglass; and they all pass slowly and evenly through the narrow neck in the middle. 

We are like that hourglass. When we start in the morning, there are hundreds of tasks which we feel that we must accomplish that day. But if we do not take them one at a time and let them pass through the day slowly and evenly, as do the grains of sand passing through the narrow neck of the hourglass, then we are bound to break our own fragile physical and mental structure.  Do not attempt more than God designed you to do. 

Lower your hostility

Keep calm, and keep kind, if you want to live longer. It seems that being sarcastic and irritable only makes heart attack victims more likely to die from a second coronary.

A recent study in the US on the personality traits of patients who had had heart attacks found that hostile personality traits (sarcasm, cynicism, resentment, impatience, irritability) was a common factor.

One doctor at the University of Tennessee said: “We know that taking control of lifestyle habits improved the outlook for heart attack patients, and our study suggests that improving hostile behaviour could also be a positive move.”

Going to church in the coronavirus pandemic

More than 17,000 online services and events have been provided by Church of England churches since the introduction of the lockdown and restrictions on public worship earlier this year.

Figures from the Church of England’s A Church Near You website, which allows people to search for church services and events, show that more than 17,000 online services or events are now listed, including Sunday Communion services, Bible studies and morning or night prayer. Many of these services take place regularly and this figure represents a snapshot of the likely total number.

The statistics do not include the Church of England’s national online weekly services broadcast on Sundays and shared on Facebook and YouTube. There have been nearly three million views of the national online services and posts about the weekly broadcasts have been seen 23.6 million times. Contributors have included the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Duke of Cambridge and Pope Francis.

The national online services are being watched by a wide range of ages and around one in five people viewing go to church infrequently or not at all.

Other figures in the report show that official Church of England apps from Church House Publishing – the most popular being Daily Prayer, or the Daily Office of morning, evening and night prayer - have been used more than seven million times so far this year, up from five million in 2019. Church of England social media posts have been seen 86 million times so far, nearly double the total for last year.

The growth in online services has been helped by the Church of England stepping up its digital training programme for congregations. More than 4,200 vicars and local church leaders have taken part in remote digital training courses so far this year, four times the number as in 2019.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said: “At a time when many have felt isolated and fearful, Church of England parishes and clergy have broadcast thousands of online church services and events, seeking to bring comfort and hope to their communities. We know that tens of thousands of those tuning in will never have had contact with their local Church of England parish before and may never have heard the Christian message. Their welcome presence is a sign of the great hunger we all have for spiritual meaning in our lives.”

When life goes wrong for us

Where is God when we are hurting? When we are sick or a loved one is sick, why doesn’t God always answer our prayer for healing? If He has not answered us, how do we know that He is even there at all? 

The words of Alister McGrath* are helpful;

“Experience cannot be allowed to have the final word… the theology of the Cross draws our attention to the sheer unreliability of experience as a guide to the presence and activity of God. God is active and present in His world, quite independently of whether we experience Him as being so. Experience declared that God was absent from Calvary, only to have its verdict humiliatingly overturned on the third day.

“So – where does that leave us? As with the Cross, it may be that our personal darkest hour may be also God’s finest moment for us. It may be there that He does His greatest work in and for us, albeit unseen by us at the time. Thus, instead of letting circumstances consume us, we are to be consumed with God. To that end, we should pray without ceasing, trust in His sovereignty, and find comfort in His love and hope.”

* Mystery of the Cross (Zondervan, 1990)

Zoom Zoom Zoom!

The pandemic is leaving a “lasting digital legacy”, and changing the UK’s internet habits and behaviour “indelibly”.  So says a recent Ofcom study.   

Since March we have broken the four-hour barrier, which means that, on average, we spend more than a quarter of our waking hours each day online. That is up from an average of three hours and 29 minutes this time last year.

Zoom has soared in popularity. Last December it reached 498,00 people in the UK; by April this had soared to 13million in the UK.

TikTok, which lets users share short videos set to pop music, had 5.4 million UK users in January; by April it had 12.9million users.

In February, 35 per cent of UK adults made a video call once a week. By April that had soared to 71 per cent. The largest increase has been among the over-65s, with now 61 per cent of them making weekly video calls. 

Older people favour Zoom, in order to ‘visit’ their relatives and friends; while many teenagers have become addicted to TikTok and endless videos.

Churches report rising food bank demand as a result of pandemic

Nearly 100,000 households sought food aid from the Trussell Trust’s network of food banks for the first time earlier this year, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Demand is surging further this autumn, as a result of the economic fallout from the virus.

The research comes after food banks run or supported by Church of England churches reported rocketing demand during lockdown with some opening food banks for the first time while some opened new food banks after lockdown. 

Just two examples: 

Hackney Church in East London was distributing parcels with enough food for 1,000 meals a week at start of lockdown. This figure rose to 8,000 and 9,000 meals a week in June, after the church opened a second food bank. It has since served 120,000 meals. 

In Co. Durham, the Shildon Alive food bank, founded by St John’s Church, has seen demand surge by 500 percent during lockdown.

Honey, honey!

If your grannie gave you honey when you had a cold, she was right.

Research published in The British Medical Journal has found that honey is especially good for treating upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) such as the common cold.

Honey has anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. These do better at soothing your cough and sniffles than any of the over-the-counter remedies. In fact, URTI sufferers who were given honey suffered their symptoms for up to two days LESS than those who did not use honey.

All good news, especially as honey is cheap, readily available, and has virtually no side effects.

HYMN:  The story behind … JUST AS I AM

 The hymn ‘Just As I Am’ must be one of the most famous in the world.   It has been sung by tens of millions of Christians at Billy Graham Crusades the world over, just for starters!  Yet it was not written by a professional who was ‘aiming’ at a specific market, as many songs seem to be written today.   Instead, it was written by an artist in Victorian times.

Her name was Charlotte Elliott, and she was born in Clapham in 1789.  She grew up in a well to do home, and became a portrait artist and also a writer of humorous verse.   All was well until Charlotte fell ill in her early 30s, and slid into a black depression.  A minister, Dr Caesar Malan of Switzerland, came to visit her.  Instead of sympathising, he asked her an unexpected question:  did she have peace with God?    Charlotte deeply resented the question and told him to mind his own business.

But after he left, his question haunted her.  Did she have peace with God?  She knew that she did not, that she had done some very wrong things.  So she invited Dr Malan to return.  She told him that she would like to become a Christian, but would have to sort out her life first.

Dr Malan again said the unexpected:  “Come just as you are.”  The words were a revelation to Charlotte.  She had assumed that she would have to put her life in order before she could hope to be accepted by God.  Instead, she realised that Jesus wanted her just as she was - and he would take care of the sin.   Charlotte became a Christian that day.

14 years later, in 1836, Charlotte wrote some verses that summed up how it had been between her and Jesus that day.  They ran:
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bids’t me come to Thee

O lamb of God, I come! I come!Just as I am, tho tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt
Fightings within, and fears without,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Charlotte could not have dreamed that 150 years into the future, her verses would be sung by millions of people all over the world, as they responded to the Gospel presented at many great Billy Graham crusades, and made their way forward to do just as the hymn describes - to come to Jesus Christ, despite sin and fear and doubts, to come ‘just as I am.’

Moral questions from the pandemic

You may have missed it at the time. The movie ‘Contagion’ didn’t make much of an impact when it was released for public viewing in 2011. Perhaps it was thought to be unrealistic. It was about a highly contagious, unknown virus, transmitted by an infected bat to a pig in a Chinese marketplace. From there it spread like wildfire round the world.   

It was fiction then of course, but not so far-fetched as to be distant from reality, as we now know. Deadly viruses, and the plagues they cause, have been part of world history since time began. In the early days, when travel between continents was infrequent, their spread was slower and usually confined to local regions. 

The way the film’s imaginary plot develops bears an uncanny resemblance to what we have experienced this year. Panic buying empties supermarkets, whole populations adopt social distancing, scientists work flat out to identify the virus and then search for a means to combat it. Meanwhile, millions are infected, and quarantines are imposed. 

The story progresses far beyond the reality which is familiar to us. The irresponsible use of social media and false rumours of a cure lead to the looting of pharmacies. Emergency food supplies are ransacked, law and order break down. Troops police the streets. Then there’s a breakthrough: a vaccine is discovered. But that raises a new moral problem: who will get it first and what would be a fair distribution system? 

The movie is still available via Netflix, or you can buy a DVD online. Despite the inevitable carnage of the pandemic and the suffering it portrays, it contrives to have a relatively happy ending.   

In real life, we haven’t got that far yet. But, please God, we will. After all, most deadly diseases are now under control and both vaccination and immunisation are part and parcel of everyday life; old ‘uns take it for granted that their GP will summon them for an anti-flu jab each winter.   

But we may face an ethical dilemma when it comes to a vaccine for Covid-19. If there’s an initial shortage, who should get it first? Should money come into it? Are Christian principles applicable?

THE WAY I SEE IT:  What’s in a word?

We were in the supermarket queue. The woman in front of me was greeted by a friend, who asked how she was. ‘Well,’ she replied, ‘I’ve been under the doctor again with my legs’. Her friend knew what she meant. I knew what she meant and the woman at the till knew what she meant. But try translating that into, say, French: ‘J’etais sous le medecin encore avec mes jambes’. Now it becomes utterly baffling, and possibly indecent.

Words are funny things and our use of them even funnier. Most languages, and even local areas, have ways of saying things that are peculiar (in the proper meaning of the word). I remember years ago driving past a scrawled sign at the side of a major road in the north-east where there had been several nasty accidents. ‘Gan canny, hinnes’, it advised. Clearly ‘foreigners’ were welcome to kill themselves if they chose.

Mostly our little misunderstandings of what is said or written don‘t matter, but sometimes they matter a great deal. We ask, in the Lord‘s Prayer, that God will not ‘lead us into temptation‘. Why on earth would he want to do that? Later in the Bible we are told quite clearly ‘God himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it’ (James 1:13). The word translated ’temptation’ in the Lord’s Prayer really means ’tested’ - but every time anyone has tried to change it we all complain. Familiarity always trumps accuracy!

It’s also true of familiar sayings. ‘The exception proves the rule’ is commonly taken to mean that a single exception demonstrates the accuracy of the proposition. In fact, of course, it’s the old meaning of ‘proves’, which is (again) ‘tests’. The exception tests the theory. If there’s a single exception, then there’s no ‘rule’.

In practice, we assume that people understand - and if they don’t, they very quickly learn. Normally it doesn’t matter. One could hear what the woman said in the supermarket queue and remain baffled by her meaning (as many younger people would be) without it affecting us at all.

But sometimes it’s important. For instance, Jesus didn’t ‘come back from the dead’. He rose. Believe me, there’s a big difference!

‘O happy band of pilgrims’ - leave room for God to surprise you 

When we go on pilgrimage, (when this is all over!) we must decide where to go. Then we prepare for the journey. We read about it or google. We make plans: what to take, where to stay, and cost it all. There is a part of us that likes everything to be organised so that there are no hitches on the way. But we have to remember that pilgrimages are made in faith. Whatever our plans, we need to find a place for God in all the preparations and allow for those God-given moments, unplanned and unscheduled, where we can meet His love and grace. That is why we underpin the journey with prayer as well as preparation.

If we think of the journeys in scripture – Abraham or Elijah, the wise men or the shepherds – what characterised them was not the preparation, but the spirit of faith in which they travelled. We need to journey with that same trust in the God who may surprise us. David Sox realised that in the Holy Land. He had consulted maps and guides. But when he was there in person, the places made a special impression on him above and beyond what the books told him - even in the barren wilderness. ‘ At sunset the Bedouin scurry to light their fires and bring in their wandering goats; there is an eerie quiet in this region. Stopping in the desert at night and experiencing the quiet is unforgettable.’

Gerard Hughes wrote about a pilgrimage to Rome when he sat to enjoy a coffee at Grenoble. As he stretched out on a bench, he noticed that his boots were now without tread, his arms and legs were sun-tanned, and the soles and heels of his feet were hard. ‘But,’ he wrote, ‘the important change was within me. I felt a great sense of peace, the peace of at-oneness…I felt I was seeing more, hearing more, and living more fully.’

He had changed physically, but he had also changed spiritually. His experience is a moving testimony to the way in which God can surprise each of us when we go on a special pilgrimage or make our journey through life. God can meet us, often when we least expect it, and transform our lives.

Sorry

Our minister, an avid golfer, was once taking part in a local tournament. As he was preparing to tee off, the organiser of the tournament approached him and pointed to the dark, threatening storm clouds which were gathering. “Sir," the organiser said, "I trust you'll see to it that the weather won't turn bad on us.
Our minister shook his head. "Sorry," he replied. "I'm in sales, not management!” "

5^th November:   Guy Fawkes - an early terrorist

Back in 1605 Guy Fawkes managed to stow a good few barrels of gunpowder under the House of Lords without anybody noticing. He was part of a Roman Catholic plot to murder James 1 of England and his parliament at the state opening.  Fortunately, Guy Fawkes was found - and stopped - in time. 

Need for healing

Heavenly Father,
We bring to you all those struggling with their mental health just now.
We pray:
For everyone who is smiling, when inside they’re in pain.
For everyone who is saying they’re fine, when inside they feel drained and empty.
For everyone struggling with fear and worry as the easing of the lockdown brings new anxieties.
Be with them in their suffering, as so much of their world has been stripped back and emptied.
When loved family and friends have been taken by illness,
Or made distant by lockdown.
Pour your healing balm into their pain and sadness.
May you walk with them besides still waters
May you speak to them in a still small voice.
May you heal them, and fill them, and bless them with your abundant love and fullness of life.
And may they know that they are loved by you for the beautiful unique person that they are, created in the image of their heavenly creator and loving Lord.

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

In praise of peanut butter

One quirky change of life under Coivd-19 is that for some reason, we are eating more peanut butter.  According to a recent report in The Grocer, sales of the stuff rose by 35.5 per cent in the Spring. 

Peanut butter producer Kirstie Hawkins (Whole Earth brand) is delighted. “Peanut butter offers an easy way to add more nutrition to breakfast and snack choices.” 

Whatever the reason, sales of peanut butter, at £98.9million in the past year, are now £2million more than those for jam.

God is with us in our pain and fear’ – Bishop of London’s message of hope

The Bishop of London, Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, has said that despite this being a time of “great uncertainty and challenge” as the world struggles to “overcome a devastating pandemic that has cut short earthly lives, destroyed livelihoods, and separated us from the people and activities we enjoy,” yet still “we are not without hope.”

Speaking recently in St Paul’s Cathedral, she said: “Through word, prayer, song and symbol, we are reminded that God’s love for us can never be destroyed. God is with us in our pain and fear and will lead us to a yet more glorious day.” 

Bishop Sarah also praised the ongoing work of the “real heroes and heroines at work in intensive care units, the Emergency Department, oncology and elderly care wards.”

These people have been “giving their all, and are continuing to give their all, because we are still very much in the midst of the Covid pandemic.” 

“Yet,” she went on, ‘The hope we have in our hearts as Christians is eternal. Hope that is in Christ will not be disappointed.” 

1^st November:  All Saints’ Day – the feast day of all the redeemed

All Saints, or All Hallows, is the feast of all the redeemed, known and unknown, who are now in heaven. When the English Reformation took place, the number of saints in the calendar was drastically reduced, with the result that All Saints’ Day stood out with a prominence that it had never had before.

This feast day first began in the East, perhaps as early as the 5th century, as commemorating ‘the martyrs of the whole world’. A Northern English 9th century calendar named All Hallows as a principal feast, and such it has remained. Down the centuries devotional writers have seen in it the fulfilment of Pentecost and indeed of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice and resurrection. 

The saints do not belong to any religious tradition, and their lives and witness to Christ can be appreciated by all Christians. Richard Baxter, writing in the 17th century, wrote the following: 

He wants not friends that hath thy love,
And made converse and walk with thee,
And with thy saints here and above,
With whom for ever I must be...

As for my friends, they are not lost;
The several vessels of thy fleet,
Though parted now, by tempests tost,
Shall safely in thy haven meet....

The heavenly hosts, world without end,
Shall be my company above;
And thou, my best and surest Friend,
Who shall divide me from thy love?*

1,255 ancient English churches were dedicated to All Saints - a number only surpassed by those dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

*(Maurice Frost (ed.), Historical Companion to Hymns Ancient and Modern (London: Clowes, 1962), no. 274, verses 1,3,6.

All Hallows Eve – or Holy Evening - 31 October

 Modern Halloween celebrations have their roots with the Celtic peoples of pre-Christian times. 

In those long-ago days, on the last night of October, the Celts celebrated the Festival of Samhain, or ‘Summer’s End’. The priests, or Druids, performed ceremonies to thank and honour the sun. For there was a very dark side to all this: Samhain also signalled the onset of winter, a time when it was feared that unfriendly ghosts, nature-spirits, and witches roamed the earth, creating mischief. So the Druid priests lit great bonfires and performed magic rites to ward off or appease these dark supernatural powers. 

Then the Romans arrived, and brought their Harvest Festival which honoured the Goddess Pomona with gifts of apples and nuts. The two festivals slowly merged. 

When Christianity arrived still later, it began to replace the Roman and Druid religions.  1^st November - All Saints’ Day - was dedicated to all Christian Martyrs and Saints who had died. It was called ‘All Hallows’ Day’. The evening before became an evening of prayer and preparation and was called ‘All Hallows’ Eve’, The Holy Evening, later shortened to ‘Halloween’.   

For many centuries, however, fear of the supernatural remained strong. During the Middle Ages, animal costumes and frightening masks were worn to ward off the evil spirits of darkness on Halloween. Magic words and charms were used to keep away bad luck, and everybody believed that witches ride about on broomsticks. Fortune telling was popular, and predicting the future by the use of nuts and apples was so popular that Halloween is still sometimes known as Nutcrack Night or Snap-Apple Night. 

Today, Christians have learned to turn to prayer instead of charms to overcome the powers of darkness. And the deeper, true meaning of All Hallows’ Eve, should not be forgotten. As Christians, we all draw closer to Christ when we remember and give thanks for our loved ones and for others who have gone before us through the gates of death.  

"Be careful with your words. One said, they can only be forgiven, not forgotten."
Carl Sandburg; (1878-1967)

A Helping Hand

There is much we can do just to brighten
This world of all take and no give,
There's a great deal that we can contribute
Through the everyday lives that we live.

By supporting one's elderly neighbours
Or through lending a hand in some way
It's by taking a bunch of spring flowers
To someone to brighten their day.

It's by sparing a few precious hours
In the service of those most in need
It's all about setting a standard
And trying to give others a lead

It’s the way that we tend to treat others
And help and aid folks in distress
In the care and assistance we offer
That will set us apart from the rest.

The choice that we face is quite simple
The rewards plain for all men to see
As you did all of this to my brother
Then said Jesus, you did it to me.

Help our wildlife before it is too late

A quarter of mammals in the UK are at risk of extinction, and this decline will continue unless their habitats are restored and some species are reintroduced.

So warns the chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper, referring to a recent list of endangered animals issued by the Mammal Society, and approved by the United Nations.

UK mammals most in danger are the greater mouse-eared bat, the water vole, the hedgehog, hazel dormouse and Scottish wildcat.  The European wolf is already extinct.

Tony Juniper advises that reintroducing some mammals would help others at greater risk. For example, introducing more pine martens would help control the grey squirrels, which in turn would give our native red squirrels a better chance.

As one professor of environmental biology said: “Here in Britain we are managing to send even rodents towards extinction. Things have to change rapidly if we want our children and grandchildren to enjoy the wildlife that we take for granted.”

HYMN:  The story behind … Dear Lord and Father of mankind

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways!
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard
beside the Syrian sea
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word,
rise up and follow thee.

 Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.

This is the nation’s second favourite hymn, according to a poll taken by the BBC Songs of Praise programme in 2013.  But it did not originate in the UK, nor did it begin life as a hymn.  It began in the USA, as part of a poem about a drug-induced religious frenzy.

John Greenleaf Whittier had been born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1807. His family were part of a pious Quaker community, and so the young John had grown up in an atmosphere of reverence, of waiting upon God in prayerful silence.   Whittier wanted to be a poet, but his father directed him to journalism instead, in order to be sure his son could earn a living.  Obediently, Whittier took up his pen and began to write for the papers.  He was soon engaged in the fight against slavery, which he called the ‘national crime’. He was frequently abused and criticized for his stand, and found his solace in turning to his first love, poetry.

In 1872 he wrote a 17 verse ‘hymn-poem’ called ‘The Brewing of Soma’.  It was an attempt to depict the futile ways in which mankind tries to engage with God.  The story line is of priests of the Vedic religion (close to Hinduism) brewing soma, a sacred ritual drink with hallucinogenic properties. The priests are hoping that Soma will give them an experience of the divine, but instead they simply get drunk.  This failure is then compared to some Christians' use of "music, incense, vigils drear, And trance, to bring the skies more near, Or lift men up to heaven!"  But all their effort is in vain.   It is mere intoxicated folly.  

And so the poem runs for 11 verses.  Then, in verse 12, the whole scene changes, and we are not using props any longer, but simply looking into the loving face of the God of the Bible.  We come to Him in penitence, and are met with grace and love.   We encounter Jesus, and follow Him in obedience.  The result is peace, stillness, and eternal life.

The poem became the hymn in 1884, when Garrett Horder took the poem’s final five verses and made them the hymn we love today.  Here in the UK we sing it to the tune ‘Repton’, by C Hubert H Parry. 

You and your smartphone

Do you spend more than an hour on your smartphone each day?  If so, ever wonder why?   According to a new study in the USA, it may be that you are depressed. 

The study found that the more time we spend using a phone for any reason – including texting and browsing the internet - the most likely we are to have the blues.  On average, a depressed person spends about 68 minutes a day on their phone, while a non-depressed person keeps it to about 17 minutes.

“When people are depressed, they tend to withdraw and don’t have the motivation or energy to go out and do things,” said one scientist from Northwestern University.  Instead, they distract themselves by using their phones.  “…It’s an avoidance behaviour we see in depression.”

As more than one in ten people in Britain are reckoned to suffer from anxiety and depression, the findings suggest that monitoring phone data might be an easy way to pick up the problem.  The scientists were able to identify depressive symptoms with 87 per cent accuracy, using the phone data.

Understanding the Bible

 As we acknowledge Bible Sunday yesterday, it’s a good opportunity to ask the question: why should I read the Bible?

The Bible is the world’s best-selling book of all time. However, it isn’t one book, but a library of 66 books, composed by some 44 writers over a period of 1500 years in a range of literature including history, poetry, prophecy, letters and apocalyptic (end times). Despite having a number of different writers, the Bible claims one author: God himself!

This is the basis of the unity of its message and authoritative claim to be the primary way by which God speaks to us: ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is inspired (‘the word of God in the words of men’) and presents itself as a manual for life, equipping us to live for God in every aspect of our lives. We also have the promise of the Holy Spirit to guide us in applying the words to our lives: ‘the Spirit will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:13).

However, the Bible could also be described as a love letter from God, as He uses it to deepen our relationship with him. As Jesus said: ‘You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me’ (John 5:39,40). Christians follow a person not a book, and the Scriptures are intended to help us to know Jesus better.

At her coronation the Queen was given a Bible with the words ‘the most precious thing this world affords’. Does this reflect our own attitude to the Bible?

BIBLE SUNDAY: Who authorised the Bible, anyway?

Question: If it was the Church that finally decided which books should be included in the Bible, then isn’t the Church the top authority?

Answer: No; the Bible produced the Church, not the Church the Bible. This is the real issue: what caused a book to be accepted within the ‘Canon’ of Scripture?  (Greek: kanon, ‘standard’ or ‘rule’).

As far as the Old Testament was concerned:

1.  Books that were recognised by Jesus Christ as infallible ‘Scripture’ could not be broken (Matthew 5:18). In John 10:35 Jesus didn’t have to explain what He meant by ‘Scripture’, though elsewhere He did refer to its different categories (law, prophets, psalms) as pointing to Himself (Luke 24:44; Matthew 24:37). All was to be believed and obeyed.

2.  Books that were recognised by God’s people because of their impact. God’s people will always recognise His voice (John 10:27). Jesus clashed with the Pharisees for adding their traditions to the Scripture; yet all were agreed that the Old Testament Scriptures were God’s word.

3.  Books that were recognised by the New Testament. It is significant that the New Testament features hundreds of Old Testament allusions. Only two are from the body of books known as the Apocrypha (Jude 9, 14) – seemingly in similar style to Paul’s quotation from a Greek poet (Acts 17:28). The Apocryphal books were perceived to be on a lower level.

Next, what determined inclusion in the New Testament Canon?

1.  Books that are Christ-centred in their emphasis. It was inconceivable to the early Church that the Gospels, for example, which focused so much upon the life and death of Jesus, could have any lower place than that given to the Old Testament Scriptures.

2.  Books that are apostolic in their teaching. It was to the apostles exclusively that Jesus promised guidance ‘into all truth’ through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration (John 16:13). The result of this was the New Testament (1 Corinthians 2:12,13). Significantly, Peter brackets Paul’s writings with what he calls ‘the other scriptures’ (2 Peter 3:15,16).

3.  Books that are faith-building in their effect, and thus, to be read in the congregations (John 20:30,31; 1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16; 1 Peter 2:2; Revelation 1:3).  When the Christian scriptures take hold of the thinking of masses of people, they have the effect of ‘stabilising society, without sterilising it’ (historian T. R. Glover).

The books of the Old Testament were becoming largely accepted by AD 70; those of the New Testament by the end of the second century. The drawing of a line around them discouraged forgers and religious peddlers.

So no one really ‘put’ the books into the Bible; they put themselves in, because of their innate quality. No council by itself could have conferred authority upon the books; this, they possessed already. It is an authority that is inherent, not imposed. If art lovers say of a Renoir painting, ‘This is a genuine Renoir’, their acclaim in no way invests the painting with authority; it was already authentic. It is the same with the Scriptures; we can only recognise them as such…. and live by them.

 Felix of Thibiuca - the man who would not give up his Bible

Do you value your Bible? If so, Felix of Thibiuca (247 – 303) is a good patron saint for you. The year was 303, and Diocletian was emperor in Rome.  In February of that year he decided that Christians were NOT a good thing. So, he issued an edict:  all copies of the Christian Scriptures and all liturgical books were to be surrendered and burnt.  Diocletian had decided to ‘wind up’ this upstart religion.

The persecution began in Rome. By June of that year, the edict had reached North Africa, and Thibiuca, where Felix was bishop. Felix was arrested and interrogated. Yes, he said, he did have a copy of the Scriptures. No, he said, he would not hand them over.

Felix was a highly respected bishop, and even the authorities were loath to take immediate action against him. So they gave him three days grace to see sense, and back down. But Felix prayed and became only more certain that this was a conflict between the commandments of God and the commandments of men.

At the end of the three days Felix was referred to the proconsul. He still refused to hand over his Scriptures. His last words in public were memorable “God, I thank you. I have passed 56 years in this world. I have preserved my chastity; I have observed the Gospels; I have preached the faith and the truth. Lord God of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, I bend my neck as a sacrifice for you, who abides for ever.” He was condemned to be beheaded at Carthage, and became one of the first martyrs to die under Diocletian.

Needless to say, Diocletian did not succeed in destroying the Scriptures. Today there are hundreds of millions of copies around the world, and tomorrow, Christians will thank God for the Scriptures when they celebrate Bible Sunday.   

Sleep easy 

Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.  That has been biblical advice for millennium.  Now a study at Oxford has found medical evidence that agrees.      

A study at the university’s sleep and circadian neuroscience institute has found that ending your day angry, or sleeping right after a traumatic event, can make bad memories stick.  Instead, sleep deprivation prevents the consolidation of bad memories, and therefore leads to fewer flashbacks.  The findings, published in the journal Sleep, may also suggest that the practice of giving sedatives in trauma treatment should be reconsidered.

Give Him a Call!

The phone was a great invention. How easy it is to press a few numbers on our small devices and speak to someone the other side of the world. There was a time when a phone in a home was a luxury item.  Now, it seems, we take it for granted that we have a gadget in our pocket enabling us to contact anyone, at any time, in any place. 

However, how many times have you wanted to speak to someone, only to be given a recorded message giving a variety of options?  Then you have to wait in a queue for ages before your call is answered. Sometimes a voice informs you ‘your call is important to us’ … but meanwhile you are left waiting, listening to endless music.  

Yes, a phone may be useful in all kinds of circumstances, but they can also be very frustrating!  So, it’s good to know that God can be contacted immediately we need Him. There is no celestial call centre where our messages are delayed or referred. With prayer we can call on God directly. This service is free with no charges. He hears our every call and we can be confident that our Creator will answer us in ways which are only for our good.

‘When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond.’ (Isaiah 58:9)

Discovering the vital route from Atlantic to Pacific

It was 500 years ago, on 21^st October 1520, that Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s Spanish expedition to the East Indies discovered the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of Chile.

His ships, backed by King Charles I of Spain (soon to become Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire) were seeking shelter in a bay after a foiled mutiny when they unexpectedly found that they could continue sailing west – though the route among many islands and channels was tortuous, with mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south.

Until the creation of the Panama Canal in 1914, this was a vital passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, though it has a cold, foggy climate and is prone to fierce storms. Wrecks of ships can be seen along its banks.

Magellan and his men took over a month to get through the strait (or straits). During that time the master of one of the remaining ships mutinied and sailed home.

The surviving ships continued on what became the first circumnavigation of the globe, though Magellan himself was killed in a fight with natives in the Philippines, and Spaniard Juan Sabastian Elcano took command.

From fisherman to rock man

‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16: 17,18)

Here is the hinge moment of Matthew’s Gospel. The little company had reached Caesarea Philippi, at the source of the river Jordan. Part of it is a grotto – said to be the birthplace of the god Pan. Jesus would have been standing beside the ancient carved shrines to Pan - still visible today - as he addressed the disciples: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

The answers came quickly: John the Baptist back again? A famous prophet from the past? But then it became personal. “But who do YOU say that I am?”  It is the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Get it wrong – and even our very existence won’t quite make sense. People sometimes say, “I don’t understand about Jesus! God I can understand - but where does Jesus fit in?”  It was that great theologian, Athanasius - Egyptian born and Greek trained - who gave the answer sixteen centuries ago. He said, “The only system of thought into which Jesus Christ will fit, is the one in which He is the starting point!”

Get it right about Jesus, then - and everything else will begin to glow with significance. Get it wrong – and we’ll be like the man who does up his shirt buttons in the morning, starting with the wrong button!  He may say to himself, “Well, it’ll probably work out if I just keep on” – No, it won’t! It’s the same with Christ. Get it wrong about him, and the very meaning of life and existence will always remain a puzzle. Jesus Christ, the first and the last, is the culmination of all God’s saving purposes for our world; ‘YOU… are the very Messiah of God!’ exclaimed Simon.

Simon the fisherman had hit the jackpot and so became spokesman for us all. Jesus re-names him Peter - Petros ‘the Rock.’ That name – ‘Peter’ – would go world-wide. University colleges would be called by that name. Whole cities would be called after Peter – and countless thousands of churches, the same. Mums and dads all down history, by the million, would call their sons ‘Peter,’ and their dogs ‘Caesar’ – just one of the changes Jesus makes!

JESUS

If I could package faith into one parcel
And collect all hope into a single can –
If I could roll all love into one heart-ball
And commoditise it in a living man
I’d already have a fully detailed label
Prepared before the world itself began -
And it would have one name -
And that name – JESUS -
At the centre of God’s universal plan
To take the world along the course
God’s surge of love provoked
Till wholeness flows through everything
With God’s Spirit of life unyoked.

HYMN:  The story behind … O God, our help in ages past

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Still may we dwell secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure…

A thousand ages in The sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising sun.