Happy New Year Dear Friends,
When we sit down for a bedtime story in our house, the children’s bible is never far away. Of course other books are available such as everyone’s favorite, ‘Goodnight Moon’, and my other favorites ‘The Velveteen Bunny’ and ‘Love You Forever’ which bring joy to the children especially when the last two bring a tear to my eye. But, when we are celebrating Christmas, and Easter, and now approaching the Epiphany of our Lord, I am keen to read the story of the Wise Men as they journey to visit the baby Jesus and His family.
Even though, our Christian calendar places this event two weeks after Christmas Day, we can’t know for sure when exactly their visit took place. But, regardless of the timing, the children are excited to hear about the star over the stable. And together with their glee when they find the moon in the sky, they also wonder if one of the bright stars they see at night could have been the same star from all those years before. Not being an astronomer myself, I can only wonder, but wonderment is often the best approach.
Our relationship with God whose supernatural power is capable of all things should indeed fill us with awe. And the day we lose that sense of wonder is a sad day for anyone; man, woman or child. The gift of having a story read to us is a treasure, not only for children but for people of all ages. In Sunday worship, we have the privilege to hear the scriptures read aloud. And so, you can imagine my joy when I discovered that my preferred radio station has just this kind of program. In the UK on BBC Radio 4, there are various book clubs and literary discussion such as ‘Book Club’, ‘Reading Aloud’ and ‘Poetry Please’. The latter being my favorite because poetry contains so much in so few words.
My mind goes back to my College professor who read the Psalms to us in Hebrew and his words were like honey dripping from his tongue. So too are those favorite verses of scripture which are read for us. I wonder which is yours.
This Sunday, we turn our attention to the prologue of John’s Gospel. It is an iconic passage of monumental proportions for it contains the whole gospel in eighteen verses. I also remember having to translate part of it from Greek, which itself was highly enriching. Alas, my Greek skills have not lasted, but thankfully the English version continues to feed the heart mind and soul.
Pastor Cliff