Add a new level of reality to Advent: starting at one end of your street, call at one house a day, in sequence, open their door, and help yourself to some chocolate.
We live at number 3, and we're stocking up for Thursday.
If we're going to miss the point of Advent, lets at least make it interesting. Who knows what kind of great conversations might happen?
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Advent Conspiracy: Spend Less, Give More
"Maybe Christmas doesn't need to be different, but I need to be different."
This is always a good time of year to visit Advent Conspiracy, as a reminder that we don't have to let consumer capitalism write the script for Christmas.
This is always a good time of year to visit Advent Conspiracy, as a reminder that we don't have to let consumer capitalism write the script for Christmas.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Fake Christmas
In what may just be a bizarre coincidence, the first Fake Shop in the UK opened in Yeovil recently. At the same time, the front page of the local paper, the Western Gazette, ran with the visit of the 'famous Coca-Cola Christmas truck'. No, me neither. A drink featuring a waste gas, an artificial stimulant, and unhealthy quantities of sugar, all dissolved in a freely available natural resource and sold back to us as a desirable product. If the truck actually parked in the Fake Shop, that would be a prophetic statement about Christmas worthy of Banksy.
In other news, you're more likely to find an Advent calendar with a dog in a silly costume than one with a picture of Jesus. Dog rest ye merry gentlemen.
In other news, you're more likely to find an Advent calendar with a dog in a silly costume than one with a picture of Jesus. Dog rest ye merry gentlemen.
Monday, November 03, 2014
Badvent Calendar
Ship of Fools has been running a competition to find the Advent calendar with least to do with the actual Christmas story (that'll be 99% of them), and most likely to make the baby Jesus cry.
The winners have been announced, and you can find them here, if you can stand the combination of Barbie and Ann Summers. (Thankfully not one and the same).
Alternatively, get a Real Advent Calendar, which has fairtrade chocolate and an actual attempt to tell the Christmas story. Or if you live near Hove, pop down to the Beach Hut Advent Calendar for an alternative live version.
The winners have been announced, and you can find them here, if you can stand the combination of Barbie and Ann Summers. (Thankfully not one and the same).Alternatively, get a Real Advent Calendar, which has fairtrade chocolate and an actual attempt to tell the Christmas story. Or if you live near Hove, pop down to the Beach Hut Advent Calendar for an alternative live version.
Monday, December 03, 2012
Another route
St. Pauls Cathedral, HMS Belfast, an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, Hamleys. That, plus a few bells and whistles, was the itinerary of a recent OpVic day trip to London.
From the place of worship to the toyshop, via war and gluttony.
Such was our journey, such is the journey of my entire culture in recent history. Andrew Marr speaks of the story of 20th Century Britain as 'the triumph of shopping over politics'. That's an understatement.
My advent quest is to return from the toyshop to the place of worship, but by another route.
"perhaps the reason the lamb had come to life and run away from the big store was that it could no longer bear to listen to the cash registers and the talk about buying and selling. And perhaps that was why Elisabet was following it." (Jostein Gaarder, The Christmas Mystery)
From the place of worship to the toyshop, via war and gluttony.
Such was our journey, such is the journey of my entire culture in recent history. Andrew Marr speaks of the story of 20th Century Britain as 'the triumph of shopping over politics'. That's an understatement.
My advent quest is to return from the toyshop to the place of worship, but by another route.
"perhaps the reason the lamb had come to life and run away from the big store was that it could no longer bear to listen to the cash registers and the talk about buying and selling. And perhaps that was why Elisabet was following it." (Jostein Gaarder, The Christmas Mystery)
Friday, November 30, 2012
Contemporary Advent Candle
Thanks to Cake or Death.
Well, this is post no. 2000, so I needed a candle of some sort. Anyone who manages to blow it out gets a free copy my unpublished (and indeed unwritten) memoirs.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Advent Virus Alert
WARNING……WARNING: ADVENT VIRUS
Be on the alert for symptoms of inner Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to this virus and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.
Some signs and symptoms of The Advent Virus:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
Please send this warning out to all your friends. This virus can and has affected many systems. Some systems have been completely cleaned out because of it.
Source
Be on the alert for symptoms of inner Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to this virus and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.
Some signs and symptoms of The Advent Virus:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
Please send this warning out to all your friends. This virus can and has affected many systems. Some systems have been completely cleaned out because of it.
Source
Monday, November 12, 2012
Christmas & Advent - ideas, resources and donkey rides.
2. Beatbox Bible's reading of Luke 2 did a lot of service last year as a Christmas reading in services
3. For a fresh stock of visuals, it's worth repeat visits to the Nativity Factor site. The competition is running again this year, for 2 minute interpretations of the Christmas story. All of last years shortlist are on the site, and the Christmas Channel on Youtube has all the entries.
4. Christine Sine's website at Mustard Seed Associates is packed with advent reflections, art and poems, you may need a bit of time to browse it, but there's lots of good stuff there.
5. If you need an Advent Calendar, try this one from Beyond Church, featuring the Beach Huts used in their 'live' Advent calendar. If you're anywhere in the Hove area, they're repeating it this year. There might just be time to organise something like this, and there are plenty of ways to do it - using shop fronts, garages, garden sheds etc.
6. Or try a Posada, where Nativity figures are taken from one house to another throughout Advent, and each host household can mark the evening by doing something special (party, carols, decorating). There are some resources for this at Church Army, including a family board game, cut out and make Nativity set, scripts and resources for all-age Christmas services etc.
Some local ideas, and things that have worked:
- our 9 Lessons and Carols was uncomfortably full last year, so we've got an 'alternative' on this year, on a Friday night featuring our new Community Choir. The set list will mix traditional carols with choir pieces (Lean on Me, Fix You, Price Tag) to tell the Christmas story. There's more wiggle room over poems and readings too.
- donkey rides. A variant on 'Get in the Picture', which gives people the chance to dress up and have their photo taken. If you've some nativity dressing up clothes and a local Christmas fair going on, do donkey rides for the children, a chance for folk to take pictures of the Mary/Joseph/Donkey combo, and have something to give away that explains what Christmas is all about.
- Christmas services in 'secular' venues. Local garden centres have been a regular feature for several years, and they've often rung us to get the date in the calendar. Christingles seem to work well, and we get people to make their own, which is great fun for the kids, and saves a lot of prep work!!
- Leaflet drop. Boring, boring, but if you're not going to let local folk know what you're up to now, then when are you? Nothing quite so good for the soul as pushing leaflets through snappy letterboxes in the cold. We use 160gsm card - easy to fold but robust enough to survive most letterboxes. Or you can use CPO's nice publicity materials and overprint your details.
- Chocolate Christmas - a very popular idea for a talk I used a couple of years ago, here's the original, some other ideas (see the comments), and an absolute monster. It works best if you've got the actual chocolates, and there's usually a queue (mostly boys) at the end who want to help you eat them.
- giveaways: Why Christmas? is a good one, and the Philo trust have several from J John, including What's the Point of Christmas? If you like Adrian Plass's writing style, try this. Some childrens ideas here, or several booklets/ideas on the CPO site plus childrens themed comics, and more comics,
Finally, if you're after a few good Christmas jokes and stories, J Johns Christmas Unwrapped message is a great place to go, very funny.
Update: got to add this superb DIY Advent Calendar from the Mothers Union.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Advent and Christmas Links
4 good collections of links and resources for your perusal:
Jonny Baker, including beach hut advent calendars, advent tweets, videos, art etc.
Christine Sine, always excellent, lots of good Advent resources, meditations, poems, videos
Internet Evangelism Day, all sorts of bits and bobs, including the splendid Beatbox Nativity
Evangelical Alliance has a compliation of Christmas quotes, research and statistics, including how much people plan to spend, attitudes to Christmas cards, including one survey which has the majority of respondents declaring that Christmas is overrated, primarily for children, and that Jesus is irrelevant to how they spend it. Also surveys on mental health, debt, and a startling mince pie.
Christine Sine, always excellent, lots of good Advent resources, meditations, poems, videos
Internet Evangelism Day, all sorts of bits and bobs, including the splendid Beatbox Nativity
Evangelical Alliance has a compliation of Christmas quotes, research and statistics, including how much people plan to spend, attitudes to Christmas cards, including one survey which has the majority of respondents declaring that Christmas is overrated, primarily for children, and that Jesus is irrelevant to how they spend it. Also surveys on mental health, debt, and a startling mince pie.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Advent Conspiracy: Death and Presents or........?
[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.
warning: sermon to myself follows.
40% of us are planning to spend less this Christmas. What if the other 60% could spend less and give away the balance? The average household spent over £600 on Christmas gifts last year. There's got to be a bit of slack in there somewhere, especially since that was the highest spend in Europe on Christmas gifts. That might just mean we're really generous, or it might just mean that we've forgotten how to express ourselves in any other way than shopping. Probably a mixture of both.
I was reading the story of the widows mite the other day: someone with virtually nothing, who gave out of her poverty, and is commended by Jesus. It would be wonderful to hear that divine 'well done' extended to a nation which chose life over Littlewoods. A nation which bailed out lives as well as banks. Because we will have to explain ourselves one day, and we'll look pretty silly holding a £350 Xbox surrounded by the graves of children whose lives could have been saved for a few quid.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Proost Advent Resources
There's lots of good stuff out there for Advent, Proost are one of my favourites, and they now have an Advent Calendar too, courtesy of Si Smith. Here's a few of their bits and bobs:
Advent Calendar - 25 images by Si Smith, plus a meditation for each day, available electronically.
Nativity Figures - these are really good, download the images then print them out on white card. Had great fun making these a couple of years ago in a Christmas service.
9 lessons and carols animations - by Jon Birch (ASBO Jesus), flash animations to show during the readings of the traditional 9 Christmas readings. Youtube preview here.
Silent night movie, also by Jon Birch.
nine - 9 artistic pieces to go with the 9 lessons and carols.
All available for download.
Or use the 'Advent' tab below to browse resources from other places.
Nativity Figures - these are really good, download the images then print them out on white card. Had great fun making these a couple of years ago in a Christmas service.
9 lessons and carols animations - by Jon Birch (ASBO Jesus), flash animations to show during the readings of the traditional 9 Christmas readings. Youtube preview here.
Silent night movie, also by Jon Birch.
nine - 9 artistic pieces to go with the 9 lessons and carols.
All available for download.
Or use the 'Advent' tab below to browse resources from other places.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Seen Elsewhere: from Spare Food to Santa
Dave Walker has info on the 'Feeding of the 5000' event in Trafalgar Square, attempting to feed 5000 people on food thrown away by supermarkets.
'Regulation pop at journalists by bloggers' corner: Mark Pack suspects that Christian media outlets are perpetuating the 'Winterval' story long since the facts have departed. Meanwhile Nick Baines has a robust response to mainstream press treatment of his comments on Christmas carols, and the ides that we could think about the words we're singing.
Maggi Dawn is doing her level best to keep tabs on Advent resources and happenings. Speaking of which, here's a great Christmas poem by Gerard Kelly, 'Behold I Stand'. The link takes you to a site with several other poems, 'Christmas is Waiting', also worth a look.
When the night is deep
With the sense of Christmas
and expectancy hangs heavy
On every breath
Behold I stand at the door and knock.
When the floor is knee-deep
In discarded wrapping paper;
And the new books are open at page one;
And the new toys are already broken,
Behold I stand at the door and knock.
Abandon Image has a good piece 'Sometimes It's Easier to Worship at a U2 Concert than a Church' with the perceptive observation It hit me. A lot of U2's lyrics are words that I actually CAN say to God, whereas a lot of worship lyrics are words that I WANT to be able to say to God. While most worship songs are true, they sometimes feel dishonest.
Welcome to the blogosphere Arun Arora, who I think used to be John Sentamus comms officer and blogs at The Carpenters Apprentice
Events in Winchester diocese, with serious cuts in the diocesan budget, generated a lot of heat. Among the 'light' were good articles from John Richardson on how the CofE can deal with having fewer full-time clergy: Part 1. Part 2, Bishop Alan, and from the thick of it Dark Side of the Moon, written by Anglican chaplain Yellow, funding for whose job is one of several cut by the Diocesan budget. According to his latest post, students at Southampton Uni have already raised £1000 towards funding of the post - the money has been cut, but the post hasn't. Now that would be an interesting discipline for parishes.... If you're not a student, that doesn't stop you donating.
For the more active, good to see the churches in Taunton getting into the spirit of things as part of the late night shopping there (Ht Killing the Buddha, of all people), or if it's wet, the Ecumenism Game c/o the Beaker Folk: 'you have a monopoly on truth, go back 5'.
If you want pictures, try 'the years most amazing scientific images' (no hype then) including this one of a device to measure the methane output of a cow. Wondering about putting one on my kids...
'Regulation pop at journalists by bloggers' corner: Mark Pack suspects that Christian media outlets are perpetuating the 'Winterval' story long since the facts have departed. Meanwhile Nick Baines has a robust response to mainstream press treatment of his comments on Christmas carols, and the ides that we could think about the words we're singing.
Maggi Dawn is doing her level best to keep tabs on Advent resources and happenings. Speaking of which, here's a great Christmas poem by Gerard Kelly, 'Behold I Stand'. The link takes you to a site with several other poems, 'Christmas is Waiting', also worth a look.
When the night is deep
With the sense of Christmas
and expectancy hangs heavy
On every breath
Behold I stand at the door and knock.
When the floor is knee-deep
In discarded wrapping paper;
And the new books are open at page one;
And the new toys are already broken,
Behold I stand at the door and knock.
Abandon Image has a good piece 'Sometimes It's Easier to Worship at a U2 Concert than a Church' with the perceptive observation It hit me. A lot of U2's lyrics are words that I actually CAN say to God, whereas a lot of worship lyrics are words that I WANT to be able to say to God. While most worship songs are true, they sometimes feel dishonest.
Welcome to the blogosphere Arun Arora, who I think used to be John Sentamus comms officer and blogs at The Carpenters Apprentice
Events in Winchester diocese, with serious cuts in the diocesan budget, generated a lot of heat. Among the 'light' were good articles from John Richardson on how the CofE can deal with having fewer full-time clergy: Part 1. Part 2, Bishop Alan, and from the thick of it Dark Side of the Moon, written by Anglican chaplain Yellow, funding for whose job is one of several cut by the Diocesan budget. According to his latest post, students at Southampton Uni have already raised £1000 towards funding of the post - the money has been cut, but the post hasn't. Now that would be an interesting discipline for parishes.... If you're not a student, that doesn't stop you donating.
For the more active, good to see the churches in Taunton getting into the spirit of things as part of the late night shopping there (Ht Killing the Buddha, of all people), or if it's wet, the Ecumenism Game c/o the Beaker Folk: 'you have a monopoly on truth, go back 5'.
If you want pictures, try 'the years most amazing scientific images' (no hype then) including this one of a device to measure the methane output of a cow. Wondering about putting one on my kids...
Finally, thanks to PaxtonVic for this lovely Christmas prayer. She also has some thoughts and background on St. Nicholas, who's saints day it was yesterday (corrected - I originally said 'today', which on 7th Dec is wrong! That'll teach me to schedule posts for the day after I write them).
Walk softly, as you go through Christmas, That each step may bring you down the starlit path, to the manger bed. Talk quietly, as you Speak of Christmas that you shall not drown out the glorious song of angels . Kneel reverently as you pause for Christmas, That you may feel again the Spirit of the Nativity, rekindled in your soul. Rise eagerly, after you have trod the Christmas Path, That you may serve more fully, the one whose birth we hail.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Advent Meditation from Christine Sine
powerful video for the beginning of Advent from Christine Sine, ht Jonny Baker. The Christine Sine link has all the words, plus details of music, HD versions etc.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
'Breath of Heaven' Mary's Song
gorgeous song by Amy Grant. Good way to start December.
An equally good way to start December is the Beaker Folk recap on the pagan origins of major Christian festivals, including the ancient Birmingham rite of Winterval in which people would have a good time, eat drink and be merry and hang coloured lights on their houses, with no idea why. I'm sure that site could easily be recycled into one of those comedy Christmas books.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Alternative Advent: Top 10
A few of the slightly more creative ways to get from here to December 25th. Yes, you may have seen some of these mentioned here before!
1. Beach Hut Advent Calendar, every day from 1-24th December on Hove seafront. An Advent calendar with real doors. A calendar based on last years huts is available, and Bridlington has taken up the idea too.
2. Whywearewaiting online advent calendar, the current introductory vid features the International Development Secretary encouraging us to have a Fair Trade advent. New video reflection each day of Advent, with a focus on slowing down and thinking about our lifestyle.
3. Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar, stunning images online, the link is for last years version, and hopefully they’ll repeat it this year. Update they have.
4. Charity Unleashed my favourite Christmas present, even though it was launched for
September. In Sheffield, someone has got several local businesses to pledge freebies towards a ‘chequebook’ of vouchers, each of which is sold for £50 in aid of a local cancer charity. The total value of the vouchers is over £1000, including live sport, meals out, spa treatments etc. Brilliant idea, wouldn’t be surprised if this catches on elsewhere.
5. Present Aid buy ducks, goats, worms or a toilet for your dearly beloved. Actually, your dearly beloved just gets a card, and the knowledge that the presents have gone to the developing world. The ideal present for the family which has everything.
6. Nine Comedians and Carols (Facebook link) tour, a stand-up take on the Christmas story.
7. Blue Christmas – quite a few people find the forced jollity of December hard to cope with, not least for the bereaved. Several churches (here’s one example) now host a ‘Blue Christmas’ service for people who don’t find Christmas a season of ‘good cheer’.
8. Advent Conspiracy: challenging people to buy 1 less present than usual, spend a bit more time with one another, and give the money saved to provide clean drinking water in the developing world.
9. Highlights from the ‘12 Days of Kitschmas’, Ship of Fools’ tribute to the most ‘interesting’ seasonal items. Featuring a nativity set complete with the present-day wall of Bethlehem (fair point) and a set of ‘Christmas’ lights featuring Jesus being flogged (Hmmmm, if you see these in your street, time to move house).
10. For something community-building, there’s a tradition elsewhere on December 6th of making biscuits and taking them round the neighbours (for St. Nicholas Day). Great way to get to know your neighbours. You never know, it might be the start of a beautiful friendship.
1. Beach Hut Advent Calendar, every day from 1-24th December on Hove seafront. An Advent calendar with real doors. A calendar based on last years huts is available, and Bridlington has taken up the idea too.
2. Whywearewaiting online advent calendar, the current introductory vid features the International Development Secretary encouraging us to have a Fair Trade advent. New video reflection each day of Advent, with a focus on slowing down and thinking about our lifestyle.
3. Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar, stunning images online, the link is for last years version, and hopefully they’ll repeat it this year. Update they have.
4. Charity Unleashed my favourite Christmas present, even though it was launched for
September. In Sheffield, someone has got several local businesses to pledge freebies towards a ‘chequebook’ of vouchers, each of which is sold for £50 in aid of a local cancer charity. The total value of the vouchers is over £1000, including live sport, meals out, spa treatments etc. Brilliant idea, wouldn’t be surprised if this catches on elsewhere.
5. Present Aid buy ducks, goats, worms or a toilet for your dearly beloved. Actually, your dearly beloved just gets a card, and the knowledge that the presents have gone to the developing world. The ideal present for the family which has everything.
6. Nine Comedians and Carols (Facebook link) tour, a stand-up take on the Christmas story.
7. Blue Christmas – quite a few people find the forced jollity of December hard to cope with, not least for the bereaved. Several churches (here’s one example) now host a ‘Blue Christmas’ service for people who don’t find Christmas a season of ‘good cheer’.
8. Advent Conspiracy: challenging people to buy 1 less present than usual, spend a bit more time with one another, and give the money saved to provide clean drinking water in the developing world.
9. Highlights from the ‘12 Days of Kitschmas’, Ship of Fools’ tribute to the most ‘interesting’ seasonal items. Featuring a nativity set complete with the present-day wall of Bethlehem (fair point) and a set of ‘Christmas’ lights featuring Jesus being flogged (Hmmmm, if you see these in your street, time to move house).
10. For something community-building, there’s a tradition elsewhere on December 6th of making biscuits and taking them round the neighbours (for St. Nicholas Day). Great way to get to know your neighbours. You never know, it might be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Advent Conspiracy
ht Zoomtard . Incredibly simple idea - buy one less gift, and use the money to make a difference. They've dug wells to provide fresh water for 200,000 people with the money released so far. Lots of great ideas and info on the Advent Conspiracy website.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Multimedia Advent Resources from Proost
Recent email:
PROOST.CO.UK
Advent Extra
We usually send one e-mail a month from proost. But we're making an exception this month as we have had a late advent arrival. Lat year Beyond's beach hut advent calendar - opening a beach hut on the sea front in Brighton with an art installation inside really caught the public imagination. It's being repeated this year. But they have also produced a physical advent calendar with each door being one of the beach huts from last year. It's only £5. Get your order in quick and we'll post it to you straight away. If you are outside the UK it won't make it - sorry!
And just a reminder of the other advent reaources:
9lessons - a flash animation new this year with 9 loops realting to the traditional 9 lessons for christmas
nine - nine artists interpret the traditional nine readings with 6 movies and 3 songs.
25 - Si Smith's amazing cutout and make nativity characters and advent calendar and comic.
wait - Vaux's simple but powerful movie and liturgy on waiting in advent.
silent night - a movie that's ideal for pretty much any Christmas service
Greenbelt pocket liturgies book Standing In The Long Now. This is a compilation from various creative worship communities who took part in the Greenbelt festival this year and has some wonderful things in it.
Happy Advent and Christmas!
Jon, Jonny, Aad
http://www.proost.co.uk/
PROOST.CO.UK
Advent Extra
We usually send one e-mail a month from proost. But we're making an exception this month as we have had a late advent arrival. Lat year Beyond's beach hut advent calendar - opening a beach hut on the sea front in Brighton with an art installation inside really caught the public imagination. It's being repeated this year. But they have also produced a physical advent calendar with each door being one of the beach huts from last year. It's only £5. Get your order in quick and we'll post it to you straight away. If you are outside the UK it won't make it - sorry!
And just a reminder of the other advent reaources:
9lessons - a flash animation new this year with 9 loops realting to the traditional 9 lessons for christmas
nine - nine artists interpret the traditional nine readings with 6 movies and 3 songs.
25 - Si Smith's amazing cutout and make nativity characters and advent calendar and comic.
wait - Vaux's simple but powerful movie and liturgy on waiting in advent.
silent night - a movie that's ideal for pretty much any Christmas service
Greenbelt pocket liturgies book Standing In The Long Now. This is a compilation from various creative worship communities who took part in the Greenbelt festival this year and has some wonderful things in it.
Happy Advent and Christmas!
Jon, Jonny, Aad
http://www.proost.co.uk/
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Advent & Doctor Who
So, there's this group of prophets, having dreams about the future. Bad dreams. Nightmares. And they've been waiting for the Doctor, the one who makes things better/heals/saves (delete where applicable). Except that instead of turning up when he should have, he's been off on a consumer binge. A very big binge - though I don't really understand how a Time Lord can possibly be late for anything.
Advent is a time of dreams, and of waiting to see whether the dream, or the nightmare, will come true. In CofE churches, the set readings focus on the future, on hope and expectancy, on where history and God's purposes are heading. Is it a dream or a nightmare? And when will the dream come true? Into this comes Jesus, welcomed by, for example, Simeon and Anna in the Temple as the sign that the good dream of God's people is becoming reality.
We've got a choice about how we wait for the future. We can wait passively, doing nothing. We can do the avoidance thing, diverting ourselves, consuming experiences and time and trying not to face the consequences - "you should not have delayed" "far too late, he has come". I don't know if that script was written with the Copenhagen conference in mind - a community growing far too fast? - but avoiding the future is a powerful theme, whether it's our own, or that of our community/nation (witness the scrabbling on pensions and power, because painful decisions have been delayed), or of the planet.
Or we can watch and pray. Most agents of change are motivated by a dream, some of those dreams are good (Martin Luther King) some are evil (9/11). Advent reminds us that our dreams of the future, and whether we embrace them or run from them, affect how we live in the present. How do we get dreams? The Ood have got community, and a splendidly low-tech little cave. In 21st century earth dreams have been colonised by the marketing industry and celebrity culture, there are 1000 people wanting us to have their dream, rather than letting us have our own. Dreams need detachment to give them a place to grow, and community to refine them and give them legs. A fellow vicar said that if he has a good idea for something new, he waits until at least 2 other people have the same idea before doing anything about it.
Yesterday on an clergy retreat day we were shown a clip from 'Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium', not a film I've ever considered crossing the street to see. But there's some good lines - the two main characters are waiting for a clock to chime 12. "So now we wait" "Now we breathe, we pulse, we regenerate, our hearts beat, our minds create, our souls enchant. 37 seconds well spent is a lifetime."
Waiting for the rest of that Doctor Who episode, for Christmas to begin, for Christmas to be over, to see whether the dreams or the nightmares are the ones which will come true - we can choose how we wait, and whether its time well spent, or foolishly spent. And there's the ultimate event too: the Doctor is going to die, and so are we. As Gandalf/Tolkien says, what we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us, what we do with the waiting.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Gearing up for Advent: 'Kneeling' by RS Thomas
Great poem about waiting.
Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; the air a staircase
For silence; the sun’s light
Ringing me, as though I acted
A great rôle. And the audiences
Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.
quoted by theologian Paula Gooder today at our clergy retreat. Love the image of the sun, and pretty much everything else about this poem.
Doctor Who tomorrow, great Advent message in the trailer for the Christmas finale.
Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; the air a staircase
For silence; the sun’s light
Ringing me, as though I acted
A great rôle. And the audiences
Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.
quoted by theologian Paula Gooder today at our clergy retreat. Love the image of the sun, and pretty much everything else about this poem.
Doctor Who tomorrow, great Advent message in the trailer for the Christmas finale.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Back to Mass Sunday
Evangelism UK notes that the Roman Catholic church has developed it's own 'welcome back' intitiative. It's called Come Home, and is particularly targeted at those who 'no longer or rarely attend Mass'. There's a lot of good stuff on the website, it's nicely presented, though some of the 'video stories' weren't working, and it's slightly off putting to have the top welcome message next to a very pensive Cardinal O'Connor. He might be saying 'welcome' but he looks like he's thinking about something else. Find a pic of the man smiling or raising a pint.
Also for Advent (yes, I know it's only October), Get in the Picture is an interesting slant, encouraging people to create and photograph interactive nativity scenes in public spaces.
Back to the present: some Damaris resources on the new Creation film about Darwin. It has video discussions, meeting outlines, a list of who's showing the film etc. Sensible bunch, if you're looking for sensible discussion of the issues.
lots more good mission links on Evangelism UK, regularly updated, and much briefer descriptions than me!!
Also for Advent (yes, I know it's only October), Get in the Picture is an interesting slant, encouraging people to create and photograph interactive nativity scenes in public spaces.
Back to the present: some Damaris resources on the new Creation film about Darwin. It has video discussions, meeting outlines, a list of who's showing the film etc. Sensible bunch, if you're looking for sensible discussion of the issues.
lots more good mission links on Evangelism UK, regularly updated, and much briefer descriptions than me!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)