the red pill

Light shines in the darkness And the darkness cannot overcome it For the shepherds, given the lowliest job. Marginalised, under appreciated, poorly paid, the butt of every joke, light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it For the wise men, those who seek genuine spiritual truth, the new agers, the tarot readers, the searchers, those who look at the world and see the hand of a creator, those who look at the dark skies for signs, light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it For Mary, unsure of her future, like every mother wondering what world her child is born into, what her baby will grow up to become, for every father who fears for his daughter's future, for every parent who has to trust their children, with all their successes and failures, into the hands of an unseen God, light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it For Anna and Simeon, those of old age, who had longed to see something later in their lifeti

I'm so grateful to Maggi Dawn for flagging up the growing number of churches offering Blue Christmas events. Wolverhampton's third Blue Christmas will happen at on December 18th at 7.30pm

A friend of mine, Andy Goodliff, has drawn together a group of people to reflect on advent in a different way, offering thoughts and activities that will help us engage with advent more deeply.  25 days. 25 things to do (or in some cases not do). 25 things to do to mark the season of advent. 25 things to do that don't celebrate christmas, but get us ready. 25 things to do that teach waiting and patience. 25 things to do that help head, heart and hands be generous. 25 things to do that shape a life in a Christ direction. I Invite you to take a look at 25thingsforadvent Today's entry just happens to be mine...