REFLECTIONS
These pieces are written each month by members of our clergy team.
December Parish Magazine Leader:
ISo here we are - January 2025 - the first month of a New Year. But where did the name January come from, and can we learn anything about the name of this first month to inspire us to actually keep those New Year’s resolutions intact?The term originated before the year 1000 from Middle English, ultimately deriving from the Latin noun use of Jānuārius, equivalent to Janus. Janus was the Roman God of beginnings and endings, entrances and exits, change, transition, gateways, doorways . . . I trust you get the picture and from what you have just read, you might see that the doorway of January may have a much deeper resonance, as we think about a new year resolution.
I have not been very good at making any resolutions for the ‘New Year’ even though I Iike the idea. One reason I stopped was for the simple reason that by the beginning of February it hadn’t really worked. However, it has never stopped me from trying to sort some things out in my life which can benefit from ‘another go’ or a fresh start.
I know that I am a work in progress and some of that comes from knowing that I am loved by my family and friends. I also know that I am loved and valued by God, who sent his Son into the world to be my Saviour. Not just my Saviour but for those who went before me; those who walk this earth with me and those who will follow us in future generations. Jesus said: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:7. Through Jesus Christ we can have the confidence to go through that door and find the confidence to come and go - In other words to live life and live it to the full. Each one of us should have a life and live it to the full however that may work out.
My worry for some young people and older folk too, simply think all that needs to happen is to be famous and somehow the rest will follow. There is stuff to work out and perhaps looking to review our lives in January is no bad thing. Look back and look forward and certainly be prepared to ‘go through’ those entrances but also sometimes find the ‘way out.’
There is an advert going the rounds at the moment for a fragrance company. The slogan for the product and those who use it is: “I’m perfect.” I want to cry out to those young models - “NO YOU’RE NOT!.” We are broken but can be healed. We are in dark places and can find the light. We can be afraid but Jesus said not to be. There are some things we cannot sort on our own but by God’s grace and the power of his Spirit things can change. Jesus said: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Here I am!” Revelation 3:20. “Someone’s knocking at the door” it may not be a cash prize but may be something or someone far more important. Happy New Year! [I mean it . . . . ]
Paul Wright
Gracious God, whose years never fail and whose mercies are new each returning day: let the radiance of your Spirit renew our lives, warming our hearts and giving light to our minds, that we may pass the coming year in joy and peace. Help us to hear your voice. Amen
Reflection
Firstly, can I take this opportunity to wish all our St. Giles Bulletin readers a very Happy Christmas and every blessing as you gather to celebrate this special time with your family and friends. As we draw to the close of another year I am so grateful for the opportunity that we have to keep in touch with so many people who love St. Giles Church and all it stands for via this bulletin. I know that for many of you regular attendance at Church is not viable for a number of reasons, nevertheless I appreciate that by writing to you each month you are able to feel part of the spiritual life of our Church. This is a testament to the importance of community in a world where many increasingly feel cut off and alone.
In a sense this creation of relationship and community is what we see being played out in the familiar Christmas story. Christmas starts with family as it does for most of us. Mary, Joseph and the soon to be born baby Jesus. As a family they are impacted by the decisions of the government of the day and specifically over increases in taxation! When Jesus was born the Roman Republic had not long been transformed into an Empire. Caesar Augustus, or Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar, was the first Emperor. One of the things that Emperor Augustus implemented was a more efficient way to collect taxes across the Empire. All citizens in every part of the Empire had to be registered so that their taxes could be increased. Luke mentions this at the beginning of his nativity account.
‘In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of all the world.’
This census forced Mary and Joseph to travel to Joseph's home town of Bethlehem. Little did the Emperor know that his Census conspired to allow Jesus to be born in Bethlehem the city of David, for Jesus was to be the true son of David, the Saviour and Messiah for us all.
Travelling whilst heavily pregnant, even with the conveniences of modern life, is never easy, let alone along dusty stoney paths on the back of a donkey. Arriving at Bethlehem tired and exhausted, Mary and Joseph found that others have got there before them and taken all the rooms in the inn. All that was on offer was the stable round the back, certainly no place to go into labour. As for all of us, life brought problems to Mary and Joseph, things that they hadn't planned for, difficulties that had to be overcome and challenges surmounted. In facing them not only did they have each other, for clearly Joseph loved Mary deeply, but they had the guiding loving presence of God who was with them throughout, as God is also with us.
Not finding a place in the Inn speaks for all those around the world who simply cannot compete in the competitive race of life. The poor, the marginalised and powerless people who have so little of the world's resources, the ones who spend their lives literally in the shacks and shanty towns, out the back, unseen and forgotten. Jesus’s birth speaks to them and for them. He is always in solidarity with such people as we also should be. There in the stable is a family supporting each other, Joseph being with Mary as she goes through the trauma of childbirth and both of them being filled with love as they gaze at their new born child.
Why couldn't it have just stayed like that? Just a family, sufficient to itself.
The next part of the story underlines the importance of a wider togetherness, for out in the dark are shepherds alone and at work looking after their sheep. Heaven speaks to them of this new birth and despite their fear they make their way to Bethlehem to see
‘this thing that the Lord had made known to us.’
Jesus in his infancy is already drawing people together, and later the wise men from the East will also come. Shepherds, the poorest of the poor in Jesus’s day and the rich well dressed Eastern dignitaries, all drawn to Jesus. This is a community formed around Christ, made up of different people from different backgrounds, ages and cultures. This is us, this is church and our community of people who are for example reading this Bulletin all drawn to the love of Christ. The myth of the modern world is that self-reliance and self-promotion are what really matters and as long as we have our smartphones in our hands we are never far from an all embracing online community. The reality can be deeply disappointing as isolation and disconnection fuel fear and anxiety. Life is difficult at times and it is best faced together in community.
Jesus in the stable offers us experiences that are vital to human well being, worship, wonder, mystery, joy, peace and above all love. We love Christ as he deeply loves us and we go out and love others for in our love and service of others lies true peace and meaning.
I would like to leave you with something that you might like to think of when you next see a picture of a stable either on a card or in a church:
THE FRUIT OF SILENCE IS PRAYER
THE FRUIT OF PRAYER IS FAITH
THE FRUIT OF FAITH IS LOVE
THE FRUIT OF LOVE IS SERVICE
THE FRUIT OF SERVICE IS PEACE.
Mother Theresa co