Rector’s Ramblings

So now we are in December and if you haven’t already been planning for Christmas I imagine that you will be very soon indeed.  It’s always a good idea to plan in advance and get things done early so as to avoid all the rushing around at the last minute.  Some people like all that bustle of fighting their way around shops to get presents and food and the many other things they want/need to make Christmas as good as it can be for themselves and the family.  December then can be a time of noise, hustle and bustle with shopping, parties and the those hastily arranged annual visits to see family and friends. 

When we look at images of the birth of Jesus, the scene we are presented with there is very different to all that noise and activity we are engaged in.  Those images often give us a sense of peace and quietness and calm.  The reality would have been very different - far from calm at all.  There would have been the pain and noise of childbirth, the noise of the animals in the stable, not to mention the noise and bustle of so many people in Bethlehem at that time all having returned to their ancestral homes to register for the census that Caesar had ordered.

Through much of the last 6 weeks or so I have not been able to talk very much having had tonsillitis, laryngitis and a chest infection.  It has been a quiet few weeks – not just for me having been forced to rest my voice but for my family as well!  There has however, been something really nice about having to spend some time in quietness; it gives you some space to think and pray and reflect on things.  And when you can’t speak so much you listen, properly, to what people are saying to you.

Amid all the frenetic activity of the weeks to come, perhaps we need to spend some time in quietness, maybe just an hour every few days to think and reflect and listen, not just to others, but to God.  This would be a very good thing to do in Advent as we prepare to celebrate Christmas again.  Doing this I am sure will help us to focus both our minds and our hearts on those things that are truly important; celebrating the birth of our Saviour.

Wishing you a happy and blessed Advent and Christmas.

Tim