7th December 2019

It's been a really full day today of sorting, tidying, clearing and cleaning; I've just nearly fallen asleep on the sofa. When the day is so full like this you never think you'll be able to set time aside for silence and reflection but I'm now sat in bed with my 20 min candle lit, catching up on today's readings. It's been a reminder that even one minute set aside, to breathe and to be,  can make all the difference;

Do you have only one minute? Hem it with quietness. Do not spend it in thinking how little time you have. I can give you much in one minute.

Amy Carmichael 

6th December 2019

Each day within their prayer cycle the Northumbria Community has a non-biblical meditation. These repeat on a monthly cycle and today is one of my favourites. 

When I look at the blood
all I see is love, love, love.
When I stop at the cross
I can see the love of God.

But I can’t see competition.
I can’t see hierarchy.
I can’t see pride or prejudice
or the abuse of authority.
I can’t see lust for power.
I can’t see manipulation.
I can’t see rage or anger
or selfish ambition.

I can’t see unforgiveness.
I can’t see hate or envy.
I can’t see stupid fighting
or bitterness, or jealousy.
I can’t see empire building.
I can’t see self-importance.
I can’t see back-stabbing
or vanity or arrogance.

I see surrender, sacrifice, salvation,
humility, righteousness, faithfulness, grace, forgiveness,
love! Love … love…

When I stop! … at the cross
I can see the love of God.

Godfrey Birtill

5th December 2019

Well that flooring is finally laid, 11 years on, and I'm getting there with my jam and chutney making. Advent is well under way. 

The new flooring is really making us look at the space in a new way- the old carpet was down for probably 30 or more years, from when my parents owned the house, and the space in our hallway is something I've been looking at for over 35 years, but changing a room- and this is also the case with rearranging the dining room- makes you see it differently, no matter how many years you've known that space. 

When we're so familiar with something it's hard to imagine it any other way or look at it from a new angle. Our rituals and traditions at this time of year can be a bit like that- I know in the past I've always bought particular foods for Christmas, and yet they may hardly get touched. I've tried to stop that more recently, to look at the things I do during Advent and Christmas out of tradition or habit and reassess if they're important or not, knowing what's ok to let go of. We've done this with our church services at St Michael's too, giving ourselves the freedom to experiment and try new things, and giving ourselves permission to fail. It can take a lot to change something familiar and comforting, especially change that may not go as hoped, but that's how we grow.

4th December 2019

Another Advent practice I'm undertaking this year happened purely by accident. I usually journal each evening throughout Advent, and try to at other times of the year, but often take time off too. My lovely friend Katya has a monthly stationary subscription but not so long ago ended up with a double delivery. I was surprised and delighted when a package arrived though my door from Kat containing amongst other things a happiness journal. Rather than fill out my usual journal, though Advent I'm completing the happiness journal. It gives me the opportunity to reflect on the day behind me but also look forward to the one ahead and includes planning joyful things, which anyone who's had a look at my colour-coded Google Calendar always remarks are a bit missing from my schedule!

Today has also involved making Christmas chutney. As a response to my issues with the commercial, consumerist side of Christmas I make up bags of homemade goodies for my dear ones. The preparation of the contents is like a mindfulness exercise. Each chop, stir and taste is an action of love, or a prayer. 

3rd December 2019

Today's Adventword is Time. 

I've spent my day creating an office space in my dining room- something we've been planning for six years, since I began training for ministry. The catalyst for doing it now has been the need to replace the hall carpet (thank you dogs). We've had the flooring we're going to lay for eleven years! 

The thing is, those six years since I began training and even the eleven years since we planned to replace the carpet have passed us by pretty quickly. A lot has happened in those years; my kids have turned from toddlers to teenagers, I've become a priest and completed curacy an my husband changed jobs three times. 

Our lives are so full we often don't realise how much time is passing but Advent is a time to slow the pace and to purposefully have moments of space and quiet. For me it's a time to reflect upon what really matters, what I value and what I want to let go of.

2nd December 2019

Advent has started in the way it usually does for me with a week off work, the plan being the get the house and myself organised. There's more to do than usual as the hall carpet needs replacing, meaning major furniture shifting.

Through all the disruption and disorganisation I try to keep my Advent focus. My beautiful friend Tracy gave me a little kit to help me through Advent- it's a tiny brass candle holder and 25 tiny beeswax candles which burn for 20 mins each, giving me 20 mins to set aside for silence and contemplation. 

My other Advent practice this year is following the Northumbria Community pattern of prayer with the December reflections focusing on our inner life. I'm also participating in the Society for St John the Evangelist (SSJE) Adventword- a daily living advent calendar on social media platforms where you post a picture with the hashtag #adventword and the word of the day. Today's word is "visit" and we've had a marvellous time this evening with a pre-Christmas meet up at the rectory with the rest of the ministry team...although after that game of charades I might not be able to look some of them in the eye again!

1st December 2019

It's Advent...going to attempt daily blogging again. I led the 8am service today, proud of my congregation battling through the frosty Flixton plains. My very brief homily was based upon Isaiah 2.1-5 Romans 13.11-end and Matthew 24.36-44

So we find ourselves at the beginning of another church year as Advent begins. Out in our communities we see trees and twinkling lights going up, we hear familiar carols and see the idealised Christmas adverts, but inside the church we hear readings which are contemplating death, judgement, heaven and hell. It’s quite a paradox as to most folk Advent is just a type of calendar, for most people it’s Christmas now. The presents and feasting on Christmas day are the culmination of the celebrations, not their beginning. 

I preached my first sermon on this day 6 years ago, on these readings, so I had a little look back to see if much had changed in those 6 years. The theme of my sermon was anticipation and we heard a lot of things being anticipated in our readings.

The anticipation of the coming of the Kingdom, and a time of unprecedented peace from Isaiah, Paul’s advice to put on the armour of light and the anticipation of salvation, finally we hear Jesus advising the apostles to be ever watchful, to continually anticipate his returning at a time when it will least be expected.

I spoke about anticipation which leads to anxiety or disappointment, particularly as we try to plan that John Lewis advert style perfect Christmas, especially for anyone struggling with debt, illness or loneliness.

I guess the main way I’ve changed in those 6 years is being ok with advent being two different things; that it’s a time for celebrations AND time for prayerful reflection. That’s amazing for us- we get the best of both! We don’t just get to anticipate what I hope for each of us will be a joyful Christmas, we also get to anticipate what that means for us as Christians, what Christmas means as people of Christ. The Advent focus upon the end of all things may make for uncomfortable hearing in between the twinkling lights and tinsel but that’s part of who we are and part of what it means to live our lives as people of Advent Hope. 

The season of Advent draws us in to contemplate the mystery and wonder of the Incarnation, of a God who loves us so much God chose to live our lives and die our death but also to reflect upon how our entire lives as Christians are an Advent, as we live in that place of Hope and Anticipation, urging us to live lives true to the values of Jesus’ teaching, in the knowledge that one day we’ll be at his side.