Minister's Letter
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Dear Friends,

As  many  of you know we have a huge Ash tree in our back garden which has by now lost most of its leaves. We are hoping to  have  willing  labourers  this weekend as our two little grandsons are visiting us. I am very much hoping that they see raking up the thousands of leaves as fun, rather than the chore we find it. It is always sad when the leaves fall but by falling, they reveal the immense beauty of the tree in its winter form. Maybe all of us need to focus on the seasonal gifts of creation all around us even in these dark days of the winter season.

I  am  getting  increasingly  irritated  by this year’s Christmas adverts on television, which all seem to urge us to have “the best Christmas ever”!! There’s one in particular that tells us that “the best part of Christmas is the food.” That one really makes me shout at the TV!! As Christians we are constantly battling with the values of the secular Christmas, and yet we know in our hearts that the best part of Christmas is the precious gift of Jesus;   God   incarnate   entering  human  history  as  a  tiny, vulnerable  baby.  Also,  after  the  last  21  months  we  have all endured and the disappointments of the restrictions last winter, we understand the real value of simply being with those we love and hold dear.

Jesus was born into poverty, he was first visited by the poorest of the poor and knew what it was to be a refugee in a strange land during his early childhood. God in Jesus is in the very midst of all human experience. Even if we are still being very cautious in worship, I know that God will help us look past the masks and sanitisers, to the gift of pure love lying in the manger before us. That’s the best Christmas ever.

Fred and I want to wish you all the joy, peace and love of this season. We would have loved to have you visit the manse for mince pies this year, but we feel it would be best to postpone time together until the new year. So, however you are spending this Christmas, may God truly bless you and yours.

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Yours in the love of Christ,
Helen