Today was the first proper summer day of the year in my home city, and the first in several weeks, so I and many other Victorians migrated to the beaches to enjoy it. And the beach is not a bad place to see in the last day of Christmas, particularly if you want Shakespeare’s TwelfthContinue reading “On the twelfth day of Christmas…”
Tag Archives: Mary
On the tenth day of Christmas…
At first there’s nothing especially Christmassy about the story of Ruth from the Old Testament. It doesn’t have the messianic promises of Isaiah or Hannah’s song. There’s nothing about kingship or a promised saviour. So why is it one of the readings for today, the tenth day of Christmas? Ruth’s is a story where mostContinue reading “On the tenth day of Christmas…”
Advent 3
So rare the still point.We must come backto the same place in tinystolen moments to seehow grace grows in spite of us.Infinitesimal changesslowed and tardied by oursenseless flurryyet growing all the same.The child gift grew with Mary’s Yes;may I be quick to slow to You,to give my Yes to Your life in me.
Christmas 6: How we grow
And Mary treasured in her heartthe mystery, the sheerbeyondness of what she held and did not hold.He already moved from her grasp,wiser than her and Joseph combined,outsmarting his teachers,taking himself off for theological talks,when she had hardly finished feeding him.Only time stood between her and total loss, onlyyears before a sword would pierceher own soulContinue reading “Christmas 6: How we grow”
Christmas 10: Sit at my right hand
“The LORD says to my Lord…” (Psalm 110:1). These are surely some of the more mysterious words to appear in the Bible. Who is the second Lord to whom the writer, King David, is referring? Who could even be understood to be David’s Lord apart from God, the LORD? David, after all, was king ofContinue reading “Christmas 10: Sit at my right hand”
20 Contemplations #11: Communion
…Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) I hold You; I bore You. Yet You cannot be held by me. The story told from first honours me but exalts You more: a dot at the start, impossibly small, yet burst- ing with life. How could this all be? IContinue reading “20 Contemplations #11: Communion”
20 Contemplations #7: Crux
…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8) Did He view the Cross from birth? Did crossbeams In the stable tell Him where He’d go? Did He see the Cross in treetops’ glow As He flew to earth from Heaven’s beams? Perhaps as Joseph carvedContinue reading “20 Contemplations #7: Crux”
20 Contemplations #4: Magnify
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. (Luke 1:29) Magnify, soul. Let mind expand; let heart Take in what cannot be contained. Discern, Yet know the limits of your thoughts. Return Again, again, to faith. Take humble part In grandest story. This isContinue reading “20 Contemplations #4: Magnify”
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas
For most people, Christmas is now over. The supermarkets are already stocking hot cross buns. But in the traditional church calendar, today is the last day of the season of Christmas – a season lasting twelve days, as we remember in the old song. Why remember Christmas for twelve days instead of one? If nothingContinue reading “On the Twelfth Day of Christmas”
Luke 1: Zechariah and Mary
No surprise, perhaps, that the impossible’s not a boundary for the one who lit stars and sculpted the mountains, watered – drew water from – our rock. Yet unexpected now, this figure in temple, in dreams, beholding and saying what’s seldom been said, more seldom believed: The barren with child? AContinue reading “Luke 1: Zechariah and Mary”
The Consolations of Writing 