ok, so i'm having technical problems here ! I think i mucked it up by trying to post videos.
Lenny has made a full recovery after his pneumonia and my ankle is better.thanks to all those who prayed.sorry for missing our last blog spot.
Happy christmas to all
I had never heard of this carol before sufjan setvens did a cover version of it,than i heard it on the west wing.(2 american culutural highlights i can recommend)
That is because it is a 19th century american carol. however it perfectly expresses how jesus coming will bring justice to the world
SONG O Holy Night
O Holy Night, the stars are shining brightly,it is the night of our dear saviour's birth....
Surely he taught us to love one another,his law is love and his gospel is peace,
Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother and in his name all injustice shall cease....
Fall on your knees and hear the angels voices,
O night divine, o night that Christ was born....
Video
Muppets Christmas carol-scrooge
This is the video i was trying to post up. check it out on youtube
Whilst we laying on the sofa during our prolonged family illness we watched the muppets verison of this dicknes classic.its very touching how scrogge changes from a mean,greedy,rude person into a generous kind and caring person through a spiritual experience at christmas.
Happy Christmas to all. love the FLINTS xxxx
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
day 23...
i have a confession to make - i'm not feeling very christmassy this year.
some years it's like that i guess - work piles up, there's too much stuff to do and even though advent is a time for waiting, and for preparation, somehow there's just no time or space to focus on what it's actually all about.
so today i've got all my festive music on itunes shuffle and will be trying to get in a more yuletide-like mood.
one of the tracks that will probably come up is this mp3 which leesun recorded for us a few years back [for a revive advent event i think...]
[you may recognise the bloke speaking on it.]
it chimes in with something that simon hall and i have spoken about a few times recently - that, even from the moment of his birth, christ turned things upside-down.
i like that idea a lot.
maybe i need god to turn my life a little bit upside-down a bit this christmas :-)
si
some years it's like that i guess - work piles up, there's too much stuff to do and even though advent is a time for waiting, and for preparation, somehow there's just no time or space to focus on what it's actually all about.
so today i've got all my festive music on itunes shuffle and will be trying to get in a more yuletide-like mood.
one of the tracks that will probably come up is this mp3 which leesun recorded for us a few years back [for a revive advent event i think...]
[you may recognise the bloke speaking on it.]
it chimes in with something that simon hall and i have spoken about a few times recently - that, even from the moment of his birth, christ turned things upside-down.
i like that idea a lot.
maybe i need god to turn my life a little bit upside-down a bit this christmas :-)
si
Sunday, December 19, 2010
day 19...
We have this picture hanging in our hallway - the innkeeper's advent. It was one of the exhibits from the advent show at leftbank last year and it had many admirers.
On Christmas day I unwrapped it as a present from Si.
I hope you enjoy and wonder at its creation [make sure that you click the 'see a detail' and 'read the story' buttons too...!]
Sue
On Christmas day I unwrapped it as a present from Si.
I hope you enjoy and wonder at its creation [make sure that you click the 'see a detail' and 'read the story' buttons too...!]
Sue
Friday, December 17, 2010
Day 16
Oops, sorry this is a day late!
Been thinking about thankfulness / gratitude.
Have a look at 'mybestthingtoday.com'
With 3 different characters growing up around me I can see that some people have a natural bent towards being thankful, whilst others have an automatic disgruntled / it's not fair response.
Am exercising my own thankfulness muscles, and encouraging the children to do the same.
Let thankful hearts be heard.
Been thinking about thankfulness / gratitude.
Have a look at 'mybestthingtoday.com'
With 3 different characters growing up around me I can see that some people have a natural bent towards being thankful, whilst others have an automatic disgruntled / it's not fair response.
Am exercising my own thankfulness muscles, and encouraging the children to do the same.
Let thankful hearts be heard.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Day 17
The days are growing shorter than ever - I've noticed I switch on my car headlights almost without thinking on the run to and from work and, in surgery, opening my blind around 9am there was still not much morning to light my office. I have been meditating on Isaiah's words - quoted by Rob earlier this month - "the people who walked in darkness....". Earlier this week I found myself plunged into darkness when, before anyone else in the house was awake, a fuse blew as I switched on a light, leaving the entire middle floor of the house without power. Not wanting to wake anybody up, I attempted to dress entirely in the dark. The process probably took me at least half as long again as it would have done if I had been in the light. Later, also before light, I walked past a gateway into a closed yard and reflected on how, in the dark, I was vulnerable to whatever might have sprung from it. These experiences got me thinking about the effects of darkness - the fumbling, the slowing, the fear.
Of course, once the light comes, the darkness is forgotten. But imagine walking in perpetual darkness, not having the respite of the light, even for a few short hours. Jesus is the "great light" or, in the words of the carol, the "everlasting light". The reason we burn an advent candle is to remind ourselves that He is the Light of the World and that darkness is no longer.
This poem shares some of these themes. It was written, 21 Christmases ago, by Faith Forster.
Shadows
I do not want to walk in Shadowland
where doubts and fears and nameless ugly things
creep slithering from recesses of the mind
to lurk in corners or the bend of stairs
and cast their darkening shapes around my head
in my lone climbing.
I want to be like Mary when the Spirit came....
who knew the beat of wings above her,
the shadow of the Most Hight falling
gently
like a cloak about her....
stirrings deep within her and
a breath upon her face, like some
sweet zephyr from another world
where holy things are born....
where life springs out of barrenness,
no shade of doubt can linger
and where nothing is impossible
with God.....
May Jesus light your world today! Abby
The days are growing shorter than ever - I've noticed I switch on my car headlights almost without thinking on the run to and from work and, in surgery, opening my blind around 9am there was still not much morning to light my office. I have been meditating on Isaiah's words - quoted by Rob earlier this month - "the people who walked in darkness....". Earlier this week I found myself plunged into darkness when, before anyone else in the house was awake, a fuse blew as I switched on a light, leaving the entire middle floor of the house without power. Not wanting to wake anybody up, I attempted to dress entirely in the dark. The process probably took me at least half as long again as it would have done if I had been in the light. Later, also before light, I walked past a gateway into a closed yard and reflected on how, in the dark, I was vulnerable to whatever might have sprung from it. These experiences got me thinking about the effects of darkness - the fumbling, the slowing, the fear.
Of course, once the light comes, the darkness is forgotten. But imagine walking in perpetual darkness, not having the respite of the light, even for a few short hours. Jesus is the "great light" or, in the words of the carol, the "everlasting light". The reason we burn an advent candle is to remind ourselves that He is the Light of the World and that darkness is no longer.
This poem shares some of these themes. It was written, 21 Christmases ago, by Faith Forster.
Shadows
I do not want to walk in Shadowland
where doubts and fears and nameless ugly things
creep slithering from recesses of the mind
to lurk in corners or the bend of stairs
and cast their darkening shapes around my head
in my lone climbing.
I want to be like Mary when the Spirit came....
who knew the beat of wings above her,
the shadow of the Most Hight falling
gently
like a cloak about her....
stirrings deep within her and
a breath upon her face, like some
sweet zephyr from another world
where holy things are born....
where life springs out of barrenness,
no shade of doubt can linger
and where nothing is impossible
with God.....
May Jesus light your world today! Abby
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