Zetland Park Methodist Church Pastoral Letters
Decemebr 2014
Christmas Letter
Christmas comes around every year so there cannot be much we don't know or understand about it, surely? Wrong. There is always something new for us to learn, see or discover about this wonderful celebration!
I was reminded of this as I start writing this letter while watching a video description of a marvellous piece of artwork which I brought back from the Continent in August (it was the video not the artwork I brought back, I hasten to add!). While depositing my daughter in The Netherlands we made a trip down to Ghent in Belgium to see the Ghent Altarpiece mentioned in the 2014 film The Monuments Men. Though we saw the Altarpiece, now housed in a small, dimly lit and secure environment and marvelled at it, there was a real sense of distance, of separation. Despite the audio description of each part, it was just so hard to see what we were being told about. There was a real sense of disappointment about not being able to really engage with the masterpiece. However, viewing the video, which I picked up from the shop there, with its detailed description and marvellously clear photographs and close-up shots of the finer detail of the painting was truly wonderful - and I am not even an artist!
I believe the same is true of the Christmas story - we can only truly come to understand and grow in our understanding when we take time aside from the parties & festivities, eating & drinking, family and friends to sing the carols, hear the readings and marvel at God's wonderful deeds. Or as the introduction to the traditional Kings College Carol service says, "to read and mark in Holy Scripture the tale of the loving purposes of God from the first days of our disobedience unto the glorious Redemption brought us by this Holy Child." But it is actually it needs to be so much more than just repeating the familiar story and singing well known carols; it is really about wondering about and experiencing something of the Love of God that we behold in the story.
So please do come and join us at as many of the services and events as you can, and learn and experience more about the wonderful truth that is at the heart of our celebrations at Christmas, that God came to the world in the baby Jesus, to tell you "I love you, I care for you, I will always be at your side."
I wish you a joyous and blessed Christmas.