Tuesday 6 December 2011

Advent Thinking - Alan Rainford

Its great to have Alan writing on the blog, grab a cup of coffee & a mince pie - have a read!

"I was out walking with Mal and Graham a few weeks ago. As we walked the
sun was on my right hand side and cloud on my left as I looked I saw my
shadow on the cloud. There was a halo around it and for a second I thought
it was my aura or how saintly I was. This was quickly dashed when Mal
informed me that it was a Brocken spectre. (You can see these photos on Mal's blog)  In all the years of being out in creation none of us had seen
this before. It was an amazing experience.

When I got home I explained it to my wife and showed her the photos and
shared this with other people present at the time. I was disappointed that
they just did not get it. They could not enter into the experience we had
because they were not there and photos didn't capture the moment. But
hopefully they knew from my excitement enthusiasm that something good had
happened.

I wonder if at that first Christmas the shepherds families just did not
share the same enthusiasm as they were not there. They didn't experience
the angels or the baby Jesus in the cave. Or Mary and Joseph trying to
tell their family and friends later on in their lives what happened that
day. But maybe again they would have seen in the faces of those sharing
that something good had happened

We often get back from an activity and try to share what happened. If you
could see the look on some of the peoples' faces at the end of the Alston to
Slaggyford South Tyne canoe trip the other day, it said so much about how
they enjoyed it. But if you were not there then we cannot fully share the
moment with you. But hopefully you can imagine some of our excitement.

Same as we share our faith with those who don't get it. Maybe they cannot
enter into our experience at this stage but maybe our enthusiasm for
sharing the good news of Jesus will help people see something good about
our faith and ask more about it.

Maybe this Christmas we need to be challenged to be enthusiastic about the
Christmas story and our faith as Christians. And if we are not
enthusiastic at present - to use this time to renew our faith. Or maybe its
a time for us to be open to experience something for the first time in our
lives."

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