CHRISTMAS!

I had a Christmas celebration earlier this week. You may not have noticed, but it was CHRISTMAS DAY on Tuesday-it happens every year at about the same time.

I went to my mum's on Christmas Eve, and we both went over to my sister's on the day itself. She moved house a couple of months back, so she wanted to host it. Which was nice. I had plenty of time to get ready to get over to my mum's, but I still ended up not getting there until the evening (partly because I started writing the last post I put up). And then I started wrapping the presents. My mum was also wrapping presents as well, so I'm not the only one. I knew I would be able to do it in time, and I really needed an idea on how to wrap some of the more awkwardly shaped ones. As usual, my mum had an answer, and the answer was boxes. Which she had plenty of-or at least enough.
And then, all too soon, it was the day itself. I got up late, which will surprise no-one, so there wasn't really much time to do much before we went over there. I was supposed to help my sister move a couple of months ago, but due to circumstances the moving date got changed, and so this was the first time I'd seen her new place. Which was also nice. It was a very nice place (still is, in fact), and we had a very nice day. My niece tried to get me playing 'hangman' with her and show me her dolls from 'Monster High' at the same time. They include a vampire, a werewolf, a ghost, Frankie Stine and Abi Nominal (a yeti) among others. Not what I was expecting from her, I have to say. Christmas dinner came soon after, which was good, as I hadn't really had breakfast due to getting up late, and then the rest of the day was a mess of crackers and pud and present opening and playing with presents and 'Bop It'-pretty much all at the same time, it seemed. and it was, in general, a very nice day for all concerned. I went back to my mum's and read for a bit and then went to bed. I got up even later on Boxing Day, and didn't really do much all day. Which was nice. I got dropped off by my mum in the evening, as I had to work the next day. So that was my Christmas-which actually was a lot more enjoyable than I make it sound, honestly.

And this in turn, made me think of some things. This was a pretty normal Christmas for me, though usually with a bit more church involved somewhere, but now and again I kept seeing people for whom their experience was anything but 'normal. My flatmate, for instance, was home alone on Christmas Day-what was it like for him? Some chinese people I passed in the street-what was Christmas like for them? A Big Issue seller I spoke to, who lives in a tent-what was Christmas like for her? And the people in the takeaway I went earlier this evening or the Tesco just below me-what was it like for them? I don't know how to answer these questions, maybe I never will; but maybe I should. But at least, I should remember that the questions are there.

Carols-Some By Candlelight

Not exactly chrononlogical this post, as they're spread out over the month; but for me, carols are an integral part of preparing for Christmas. Something I always look forward to and enjoy.

The first one was in the middle of the month-at a university campus. I have a friend who is a chaplain's assistant at the local uni, based at Pittville, which is a bit out of the way. So part of his job is to come up with events that the students can do - and if that has some relationship to church, that's all the better. So, for him, doing a carol service was both good fun, and completely within his remit. I went along because he invited loads of people he knew, presumably with the idea that at least some people would know the carols. And, obviously, we might enjoy it. That's why I went along, anyway. And I definitely did enjoy it. Apart from it being in the S.U. bar, it was a pretty traditional service, though instead of a sermon, the talk was someone giving us his story about how he came to know God. Which was brilliant in itself. I can say that everyone seemed to enjoy it, and he said that one of the students came along to church the next Sunday because of ;)it-and came to know God for herself. Even more brilliant. Well done Joe ;)

The next couple I went to I didn't really get to take part in properly, though I still had a good time. They were both ones at my church, and I was helping serve mulled wine, spiced apple, and mince pies after the service. As a result, I didn't really get to be in the actual service much, as it takes a while to produce enough for several hundred people. In the first one, I went in for a short while, and for the second, there was a video link; which was good, but not quite the same as being in the church. However, in both of these, I had a great time after the service mingling with all and sundry. Lots of people there, including quite a few I hadn't seen for quite some time. After the first, I heard that a couple of people came to know Jesus for themselves, which is also brilliant; haven't heard about the others yet.
And then I went to another service at St Matthews, which was a bit different. A lot more structured (as far as I could tell, anyway), and they had a choir. What was particularly good about this one was that I saw some friends I don't see very often. Which was nice. And then I went back to my church to meet up with people after the service, which was just finishing-nice timing. More mince pies and mulled wine, and the opportunity to actually chat to a few or more people this time. A very good way to prepare for Christmas, in my opinion. :D

New Friends And Old

Had a busy weekend just gone, starting with the first (and only?) Christmas party this year. Which was fun. just a relaxing time with a few friends and some mulled wine, chatting. Nice. And then I went up to Manchester after work the next day. I support a Christian theatre company called In Yer Face, who are connected to the Message Trust, and have done for a while.

But, obviously, them being in Manchester, and me, well, not, means that I don't get to see them that often. So, when they wrote to me recently with the dates of their version of the Nativity, I figured that would be a good opportunity. I'd get to see them perform, and get to meet their newest members, Emily and John. Nice. So I sorted out staying over with John on the Saturday, and arranged to go to their performance at Ivy Manchester, which is the church where a couple of friends of mine go.

So. After a slight(ly strange) mix-up with the trains, which resulted in me having to leave work early, I got into Manchester in the early evening. And then had the slightly surreal experience of going to the house of someone who wasn't there, as John was out for the evening. He is on the Board of Trustees of another theatre company, and they were having a celebration of some kind, which he was attending. But I wasn't left on my own; Emily was there to keep me entertained. We basically chatted for the next few hours, or I did anyway-or, at least, that's what it felt like. Which is strange, as I can be quite quiet when first introduced to someone. We also found time to fit in a couple of episodes of 'Lie To Me', which is a fantastic progamme. So that was the evening.
Sunday morning was also a little strange, because they had to be at the church for about 6:30 to set up and do a run through, and obviously, there was no need for me to be there that early. So they arranged a taxi for me at 9:30, so comparatively I had a fair lie-in. Still earlier than I would normally be up on a Sunday, but as I'd also gone to bed quite a bit earlier, that wasn't a problem. Not likely to happen on a regular basis, though. The taxi arrived, dead on time, which was unexpected, but I was waiting for it-almost as unexpected-and off I went to the church. Or, rather, the Cineworld, which they hire on a semi-regular basis. As I was early for church (also unusual for me), I didn't really know what to do, so I asked someone on the Message Trust stand, and she showed me inside, where I saw a friend I hadn't seen for a while, since he moved up to Manchester to work with the Message Trust. That was unexpected-but brilliant. It was nice to chat to him for a bit, and I did get to chat with the In Yer Face guys before it all started, and I was on my own. I was sitting in the front row somewhere I'd never been before with everyone I knew onstage. But on the other hand, I did have a pretty much perfect view.

It was a bit unexpected, as it turned out to be a bit of a multi-media performance, with carols and live music from Twelve Twenty Four (one of the Message Trust bands), and, of course, In Yer Face. with their version of the Nativity, set in Moss Side.  When I first saw the publicity shot, it made me think about the fact that the first Christmas wasn't nice and fluffy at all, like the impression we sometimes get from Christmas cards; and when I saw the show, this was the overwhelming impression I was left with. When God came down to earth as a man, He didn't choose to make it easy-it almost seemed as if He went out of His way to make things difficult for both the people He chose, and by extension, Himself. A very powerful piece all round.

And then afterwards, after all the packing up and goodbyes, as they had to rush off to their next performance, I went out to join the church for tea and cakes. Thumbs up to that! I met up with the friends I knew who go to the church, and went to lunch with them and some of their friends. Which was nice, spending time with them-and their kids, who are smiley, lively and very noisy. Also a nice thing.
And then I went home, in time to get to church on time-so that was twice in one day, and neither was down to me. During the service, the pastor spontaneously asked if anyone had any encouragements of things God has done, so I got up and told them about the play. Which, 'coincidentally' led into what the speaker was talking about-that when God does stuff, it's very rarely nice and easily understandable, except with hindsight. Something I hope I'll remember.

Some Thoughts

I've been thinking a fair bit recently-occasionally I do that, it helps to pass the time. In a rather confused way, I've been thinking about several things, but mainly three; family/God, creation, and (spiritual) gifts. In various ways. So here is where my thoughts have got to so far-recently, anyway.

To start with, a Bible verse-often a good place to start. Matthew 5:48 says "be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect", which sounds impossible. However, reading around a bit revealed that the word translated 'perfect' would be better translated 'complete', which gives a slightly different slant on things. Clearly, if we are incomplete, then we cannot make ourselves complete; we can get there one of two ways-either we find what is missing and replace it, or (as is much more likely and doable) we grow into it. And with all the mentions of seeds and plants in the Gospels, we can be pretty sure that Jesus is fond of encouraging growth as well. So, how do we grow?

Well, here are two glimpses of families to give a hint, both true. The first is of someone who adopted a son, as a baby. His friends said that over time the boy grew to look more like his adopted dad, and this was because he was picking up some of his mannerisms, and his accent, and the like. The boy was no biological relation, yet he became more like him, because he spent time with him-a lifetime, in fact. And the second is similar. Someone knew a couple at his gym, who were avid weightlifters, and when he met their children, he was unsurprised to see that they were quite well built too. Seems straightforward enough, until you remember that muscle mass is not an inherited characteristic. The only way the children would have got well built, as it were, is to do the same sort of exercise that their parents were doing. So, in both cases, we have children becoming more like their parents by spending time with them, copying them, and doing what they are doing. Therefore, if we want to be more like God, our heavenly Father, we need to spend time with Him, copying Him, and doing what He is doing. The good thing to remember is that to a certain extent this will happen without our conscious effort; but not all. Some of it will require effort on our part, but it will be rewarded.
So, what does God do? Well, the first thing we see God doing in the Bible is creating, and because we are made in His image, we know we can do the same. Not just build, not just shape (which it tells us He does too), but actually create something new; something that didn't exist before. We also see His love of variety, and just, well, revelling in it. And we also know that He created us to be relational beings, saying it was not good for the man to be alone. So, a good place to start being more like Him is probably to try to create, as well as to revel in what has already been created-by Him or by us. And then share what we create, and what we see, hear, experience. Another thing is that we see Him spend time with Adam and Eve, walking with them in the cool of the afternoon, every afternoon by the sound of it. so, we can be sure that if we want to spend time with Him, He will be more than happy to spend time with us.

More than that, He took the initiative. He said that He came to give life, and life to the full, so He is not only wanting us to be complete, but ready and willing to help us all the way. That's why He came. No matter how bad at it, or reluctant we are.

GODSPELL

I had a good evening out on Saturday, first going for a curry (at the splendid Kashmir), and the going to see the Jacob's Well production 'GODSPELL'. And all to welcome back Lydia from China. No need to tell you about the curry, I'm sure you can guess what that was like-and if you can't, I recommend you get along to the Kashmir as soon as you can. But the play was brilliant!

If you've seen 'Godspell' before, you might think you know what it would be like, but it promised that you wouldn't have seen it like this. As I hadn't, I didn't have anything to compare it to, and can just say it was an amazing production in its own right. From the strong, though confusing, start through to the powerful and emotional end, it grabbed my attention and didn't let go.
The way it was set up onstage was to look like a post-apocalyptic children's playground, as if the characters and world were shaped, defined, by something that had happened in the past. Think 'Mad Max', though I also felt it was something like 'Waiting for Godot'-I don't really know why. So, it started with God coming on and walking through His creation, and then He left. And then the people came on. And from that point, it was pretty much non-stop movement, going from one story to another. Word had got around that there was something different about this performance, and the first thing was pretty obvious-there was no-one playing the character of Jesus. Something you might think would be fairly central to the story, but it was something they used to great effect by the simple device of having a coat that got passed around-the wearer playing Jesus for that moment.
There were a couple of other things added to this production that I don't think are in all versions of this play. one thing was that the characters were responding to what Jesus was saying, as the play went on; and as they 'got it', they were spotlit for a moment, pointing up there was something more to their response than just understanding. And this led to the second part of using the coat-there were a couple of people who never wore the coat, never played Jesus, and when the betrayal scene came about, they were the ones who betrayed Him. And then the crucifixion happened. The first point in the play to have a sustained time of silence and stillness, only broken by one of the betrayers' heartbroken repentance. And then darkness fell. And when the light came back, the characters discovered that the gate at the rear of the stage, which had been locked all through, was standing open. The characters were unsure about what to do for a bit, but it wasn't long before they started to make their way through, including one who finally 'got it' just at that point. And they all left the stage through the gate-except one. He refused, and the lights fell with him just sitting, staring at the floor.

That's what I meant by a powerful and emotional ending. All through the play, it was high energy and a hefty dose of humour, which meant that that ending, when it came, was as moving and memorable as it was unexpected. Congratulations, guys, I'm sure this will stay with people for a long time to come...

Change

I had an unusual week last week, which started off with the visit to Leeds, and it made me think. After getting back, I spent 2 days working in the Gloucester shop, which was different; and then 2 days working on my own, partly due to another member of staff going to hospital (thankfully, he's alright, but will be off for several more days), which was unexpected. So, different and unexpected set the tone for the next few days...

Like, for instance, seeing a friend I hadn't seen for ages. Which was great. Or, phoning my mum and finding out that we'll be spending Christmas at my sister's new place-that I haven't been to yet. Unexpected because we don't usually do that, and different because it's a new place. So that will be great. Different, unexpected, great. However, the biggest two things (Thing One and Thing Two) are quite a bit different-mainly because they're so big. My flatmate told me that he's decided to move out and move back home-to Great Yarmouth-which means that things are all up in the air at the moment as to what is going to happen. All that is certain is that he is definitely leaving at the end of the month. So, that's huge. And, then, a friend mentions that he will be moving soon, and asks if I want to move in with him. I don't know yet, but I'm definitely not dismissing the idea out of hand.  So, whatever happens here, there will be some big changes in my life coming up soon.
And all this made me think about change. I don't really like change. I deal with things slowly, and I like it that way. I know for a fact that if I'd been offered the chance to move before my flatmate decided to move, I almost certainly wouldn't have taken it. And I'd have felt maybe disappointed at an opportunity lost, despite the fact that it would have been my choice. So, what does that say about me-and about life? Well, the main thing to get, that these past few days have reminded me forcefully, is that life is unpredictable. Of course, it's easy to say that, and to say that we believe it; but it's not so easy not only to live knowing it, but also to get to a state where that is (more or less) comfortable. But if that's the way life is, then there's nothing we can do about that; so it's better to accept that and learn to enjoy it. Another point, which is huge but seems small, is that change isn't either good or bad necessarily. Obviously some things are good or bad, but most things just are. And the final point I need to remember-maybe you do too- is that not changing can be in itself a bad thing; it can actually be worse than most changes eventually. So, time to change..?