20 - 27 Dec 2009

We often say that Christmas is for children, but perhaps this Christmas we can all find again that sense of wonder which we admire in children but which we can easily loose as adults:

"Christmas renews our youth by stirring our wonder. The capacity for wonder has been called our most pregnant human faculty, for in it are born our art, our science, our religion."

Ralph W Sockman (1889-1970; US theologian and pastor; from 'Now to Live!', Kessinger Publishing).

What does Christmas mean to you? See Blog below.

13 - 20 Dec 2009

At our Christmas Carol Service on 9 December, I asked three people ‘What are you looking forward to at Christmas?’ and ‘What does Christmas mean to you?’ This is one reply:

“Christmas is a time of celebration and optimism. The Christmas messages reinforce ... the notion of ‘goodwill to all people’. It is a time for reflection – happy memories of a child’s view of Christmas in the past.... But I am acutely aware that for my best friend from school, Christmas is not going to be a happy time as the anniversary approaches of his eldest son’s death... All I can offer is some sense of understanding their grief... Christmas ought to ... emphasise the sense of being together in a deeply spiritual sense.”

Nick Tyldesley (Chaplaincy Pastoral Assistant; Quaker; Consultant for Teaching and Learning, Bolton Metro Children’s Services).

You can read the other replies at www.bolton.ac.uk/Chaplaincy/Events/Past/CarolService2009.

Let us know here what Christmas means to you by clicking 'comments' below:

6 - 13 Dec 2009

Another quotation about the environment as the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meet during the next two weeks to negotiate a framework for a new agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. I am not sure of the original source of this quotation as it has probably been said by many people:

“Care for our world; it is the only one we have.”

Desmond Tutu (born 1931; Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984).