Poems, Sermons and Writings

Luke 2:1-20 Sometimes when I was younger, Christmas itself felt like a bit of a let-down. The build-up was so huge. The decorations, wrapping the presents, planning the feast - it almost seemed bigger than the day. Luke’s gospel is a bit like that - in his first chapter, there are dreams, visions, people being struck dumb, angelic visitors, and wonderful hymns. In this chapter, things become quite ordinary - background details of emperors and governors, a census, a busy time with lots of travelers, and overcrowded accommodation. The words in v 6&7 are quite bare  “While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.   And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” There is very little detail and nothing mystical here. No star, no sparkles, no angel, no dream… With Luke’s buildup, we thought something amazing was going to happen. A bit of letdown - pretty ordinary.  L

                                        Seeing the other Easy was her name Easy, pregnant at six months and abandoned. Easy, adopted into our family, sharing our home, our space. Renaming Easy an act of love and respect for the other. Diva is her name R.E.S.P.E.C.T.   Respect her space, her behaviour, her needs.   She is not property She is not owned Beloved companion, pushing her nose into my hand. Diva is her name Communication non-verbal Attentiveness Observation                                                                       Where does she walk?                                                                  Where does she look?                                                             Closing her eyes in trust.                                                                    Diva is her name                                                                My teacher                                                                       honing my skills and character       

Dan 7:9-14                        John 18:33-38 Christ the King Sunday. What comes to your mind when the word king is mentioned - crowns, thrones, jewels, wealth, pageantry? Do you think of a despotic king shouting “off with his head” perhaps some sort of demented Henry the 8th in period costume? or do you think of foolish kings from fairytales such as in the emperor’s new clothes? Many of today’s kings & royalty are little more than celebrities - fodder for the tabloids and symbolic figureheads rather than possessing any power. If we take a contemporary concept of Kingship and apply it to Jesus we may see Jesus as somewhat distanced, privileged and possibly something of a tyrant - most definitely this is not the kind of king Jesus is or will ever be.   There was a slightly daft song released in the 80s called “Star trekkin’ “ - parodying the tv series Star Trek and I found myself thinking of a line from it “It's life, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we k

      2 Corinthians 8:7-15 How many letters did Paul write to the Corinthians? - 2? 3? 4? >4? - we don’t know? What we find in the New Testament are glimpses into the relationship between Paul and some churches and glimpses into the life of the church in the first century. To understand the Corinthian correspondence, one needs to read Acts and both of the letters that we have to the Corinthians. Paul’s relationship with this community straddles several years of visits and letters, and it is a two-way conversation. The first letter refers to a previous letter - suggesting that our “1st Corinthians” is actually “2nd Corinthians”. Paul also refers to questions they had asked him in a letter so we know they also wrote to him. His initial relationship with this church started during an 18-month visit to the city. Later in the relationship there is a “painful visit” and also a “painful letter” which we no longer have (possibly 3rd Corinthians) and the letter which we call 2 Corinthians

Personal story Just under 15 years ago I was on my short drive into work and the tears started welling up. I pulled into my carpark and walked past my office door and across to the door of my own GP, a friend and colleague and said “sorry Sue, I just can’t cope today - you and the boys will need to see my patients” and I had a cry on her shoulder and turned around and went home. Home was the problem - my 15 year old son was going through a psychotic breakdown. That was hands-down the most awful time in my life.  I’m sharing this story not looking for sympathy but as an example to discuss. This was not an experience of burnout but an acute stress reaction. As I lived through this there were times when work was a balm - time out to stop my mind going around in crazy anxious circles. There were other times not many, when I was too overwhelmed to work. Some of the things that helped me get through this were the supportive work environment I was fortunate to have. My colleagues stumped up