Aspire not to have more but to be more

These words were said by Oscar Romero who was a Roman Catholic Archbishop who was assassinated for his beliefs. He was a strong advocate for social justice and peace.

We are about to enter the silly season - advent is upon us and Christmas is just around the corner. A time of indulgence and excess - a time to give loads of presents and eat loads of food and maybe, if we have time, to remember the little baby in Bethlehem.

I love Christmas and I really don't want to take any of the fun stuff away from it but the more Christmases I have the more I realise that the stuff is not what it's all about. Presents are brilliant and I really like getting them but  I'm seeing that it's the reason for the gifts that is important not the gifts themselves. 

Someone wants to give me a Christmas present - great but why do they want to? Because I mean something to them and they are thinking about me at this time.

I want to give my friend a gift for Christmas because I want them to know I'm thinking about them and I value their friendship. What the gift is isn't really that important (although I do try and give people something they would like) it's the fact that I'm thinking of them.

And that's what Christmas has always been about us knowing that we are being thought about. That is true of the first Christmas - God gives us Jesus as a present to let us know he is thinking about us and we do the same year after year.

This week we enter Advent - that time of waiting for the whole Christmas thing to start. If you are anything like me its a time for buying all those presents we mean to give and writing those cards you want to send. 

This year, as you do that, remember why you are buying gifts and writing cards and remembering all those people.

This Christmas aspire not to have more but to be more.

BORN

Luke 2 v 8 - 15

The big day is here!

So let us go to Melbourne (or wherever you are) and see this thing that has happened

or

let us go down the stairs 

or 

let's go across the street

or 

let's go to a friend's house

or 

let's go to that relative that you actually don't like

or

let's go to that homeless guy in the park

or

let's just go anywhere

and see this thing that has happened.

For the miracle of the birth of Christ is everywhere and for everyone.

Enjoy it, spread it, live it.

Happy Christmas

BABY

Matthew 2 v.1-12

Extract from the diary of Mary.

January 6th 0 A.D.

Three very nice men turned up at the stable today, a touch overdressed perhaps in their big long robes and crowns but they did bring some prezzies. The gold will be useful, the frankincense smells nice and it will keep the mozzies away but I think we'll be re-gifting the myrrh to Joe's mum next Christmas.

They said some nice things about little Jesus and two of them seemed to know a lot about him. However, one did say he looks like his dad, Joe didn't say anything???

This boy has changed my world. I pray that millions will say that too.

HOLY

Holy - dedicated or devoted to the service of God.

That’s what the dictionary tells me. When we think of holy people we think of do-gooders, ‘butter wouldn't melt in their mouth’ types, meek and gentle souls. 

And yet one of the holiest people I have ever met is a foul mouthed, tattooed, whiskey drinking biker. He doesn’t claim to be holy, or even nice. He doesn’t talk the holy talk but he sure walks the holy walk - he is the hands of Christ everyday, to anyone who needs him. (And by ‘anyone’ I mean ANYONE; drunks, drug addicts, homeless folk, clergy - the list goes on.)

I think Jesus would bless him, I wish everyone in the Church was as holy as him.

STILL

Psalm 46 v. 10

Can someone tell me how to be still at Christmas? It's a whole round of going to see this person or that person; another party; a Carol service or 5; a couple of nativity plays; buying presents; eating, drinking and trying to be merry!

Everyone is busy, the expectations are high, so much to do, so many people to see. Not enough time to fit everything in.

Today - take a breather. Sit quietly for two minutes; do it

right now and collect yourself, just be still and recharge.

Be still and remember that God is coming.

LOVE

Love

John 13 34-35

Go! - LOVE! - Everyone

That's it!

SHEEP

Advent 21

Sheep;

Sheep conjures up images of Shaun the Sheep for me, sitting with one of my grandsons and laughing together till it hurts!!

In particular the episode where the young sheep, Tim takes the farmers quad on a ‘joy’ ride!!

The hilarity, which follows, never gets old.

Jesus if often referred to as to as the ‘good shepherd.

This may seem strange to us, as shepherds are not part of our cultural norms, but to the people of the day it was very clear.

Remember shepherds were not highly regarded; in fact to say they were the scum of the earth would not be over stating it!!

That Jesus would be known as a shepherd, can only mean one thing, Jesus loves scum bags…. Now that’s good news!!

LIGHT

Advent 20

LIGHT

Light does more than help us to read in the dark; no it’s so much more…we know the light when we see this…

I will appoint Peace as your overseer and Righteous as your taskmaster.

Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction with in your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

What do we bring to the world, Darkness or Light???

GLORY

Advent 19

GLORY

At this time of the year we don’t’ merely give’ common consent’ to God.

This time we celebrate God coming to us as one of us!!

Glory to God, whose presence brings to life to all, without fear or favour!!

KING

Advent 18

KING

In my mind King conjures up images of power, oppression and war; either that or total irrelevance!!

This King, however, is neither irrelevant or an oppressor, in fact this King conjures images of peace, hope and love.

If we must have a King, this one gets my vote.

JESUS

Advent 17

JESUS

I wish people would stop trying to hide Jesus, moreover I wish we would stop trying to put Jesus  into perspective!!

remember to breathe

As we enter the time of year we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, don't forget to breathe.
It is a time for reflection and contemplation, enjoy the celebration, but remember what it is we celebrate.

STRAW

Advent 16

STRAW.

This reminds me of the story of the three pigs, in their struggle against those oppressing them, a fox.

In their futile attempts to prevent the fox from enjoying the delights of pork chops, pork belly and all the other delicious cuts of pork, they built a house of straw.

You get the picture, anyhow enough of pigs and foxes.

Straw is not exactly the most comfortable material to sleep on, nor is it fitting for a king, even a newborn King to sleep on!

But then Jesus was different and straw seems most appropriate.

He came in weakness, as a baby, grew into a man, who disappointed most of the religious leaders of the day and made friends with the dodgy side of town, and this my friends was the ‘last straw’ for the religious leaders!!

JOY

Advent 15

JOY
(part 2)

JOY , some will say  Jesus, first, Others second and Yourself last.

Not sure of that myself, JOY, seems to have the idea of  ….well joy.

JOY

Advent 15

JOY

is one of those things which if we strive to have it seems eludes us.

In the book Surprised by Joy C.S Lewis contends we are made for joy but it slips through our hands.

Joy is something we may not attain by trying to get,

rather something we have even in the difficult times of life, which is linked to Hope??

GOLD

Gold

ADVENT 14

Gold is what we give to people to say they are special. We make weddings rings out of it. They used to make watches out of it to give as retirement gifts. The daily value of it is even a part of the news.

But to give it to an infant?  Gold is a ‘for all of life’ gift (marriage) or ‘for the rest of your life’ gift (retirement) - hardly appropriate for a baby.

Unless, of course, all of the baby’s life is itself a gift …

STAR

Star 

ADVENT 13

Matt 2.2

We do the strangest things with stars. We watch them on the screen and follow their antics in trashy magazines and TV panel shows. We write names on them and cement them into boulevards. We assemble them into rating systems so that three, four or five of them together means something about what we might expect in life.

Yet God has given us millions of them, every night, just hovering above us and there to see if we’d only look up. Just imagine what might happen if we really saw and understood the meaning of just one of them …..

INN

Inn 

ADVENT 12

Wikipedia on Hotel Ratings: Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality … Many have a system involving stars, with a greater number of stars indicating greater luxury. … Food services, entertainment, view, room variations such as size and additional amenities, spas and fitness centers, ease of access and location may be considered in establishing a standard. … Some hotels have been advertised as seven star hotels. The Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai was opened in 1998 with a servant for every room …

Matt 2.10: the only time in history people were overjoyed with a one star rating of the hotel.

LOVE

Love  

Advent 11

Luke 2.16

We go looking for Love in the strangest places, and it makes us do the weirdest things, but it’s not often that we find it. Not really. 

Perhaps love - true Love - has to find us …. and then it doesn’t seem weird or strange at all.

GIFTS

Gifts 

Advent 10

Matt 2.11

Personally, I am a great believer in socks. Everybody needs socks and they do wear out. They do get holey, but rarely Holy and thus are easily and painlessly discarded. Socks are the perfect gift: practical, as colourful as you care to make them, easy to fit (you can always get someone’s shoe size close enough for a sock) and always appreciated.

What were the Wise Men thinking?