Words for Worship

Ministry Today

Christmas I

 

Children are famous

for getting right

to the point.  

 

And that happened

when Laura’s grandmother

tried to instil

some true spiritual meaning

into Christmas

for her.

 

For when

the old lady asked

why do church bells ring

on December the 25th,

the little girl

quick as a flash

replied –

because the bell ringers

are pulling the ropes.

 

Bur sometimes

the auld yins

get the upper hand.

 

And I read about

just that

in a magazine

recently.

 

It was a magazine

with a spiritual

as well as

a  yuletide point

to make.  

 

For a father

had been telling

his son

about lunar rainbows.

 

Now these are

rainbows

that appear

in the night sky

as a result of

the light of the moon.

 

The man went on

to explain that

unlike sunlight ones,

lunar rainbows

are pure white.  

 

Well, it was sometime later

that this family

was walking back

from church

on Christmas eve,

when there

in the shower night

was just

what the father

had been going on about –

a white rainbow.

 

It was then

that the boy

had the insight

to remark

that a white rainbow

was just right

for Christmas.

 

Because it is was

the birth of Jesus

that caused

all our colouring sins

to be taken away

from us.

 

More than it,

it is he

who leaves us clean

and with

a white sheet

ahead

even in our darkest time.

 

And that is why

the bells will ring

out this Christmas

and every Christmas

to come.

 

That is why indeed

we celebrate

our Lord’s birth

in a rainbow of colours.

 

That’s why the Son’s light

Is always a welcome sign

In our sky.

 

For as Brian Hope Gent we wrote

 

Carols by candle light heartily sung

Holly and mistletoe lovingly hung

The turkey is ready, mince pies are made

Pudding is steaming, table laid.

 

Tree in the corner with twinkling lights,

Heart-warming scene giving fancy her flights

Such wonderful things here simply say

Gentle lord Jesus, tis your special day!

 

Amen