BYB Sunday.....Advent 1

Photo a Day
St. Michael's Church,
this morning.

excerpt from Advent 1955 by John Betjeman

...Some ways indeed are very odd
By which we hail the birth of God.

We raise the price of things in shops,
We give plain boxes fancy tops
And lines which traders cannot sell
Thus parcell'd go extremely well
We dole out bribes we call a present
To those to whom we must be pleasant
For business reasons. Our defence is
These bribes are charged against expenses
And bring relief in Income Tax
Enough of these unworthy cracks!
'The time draws near the birth of Christ'.
A present that cannot be priced
Given two thousand years ago
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger.

It was the first Sunday in Advent today and I went to our village church.
It is only 5 minutes walk from our house and I didn't hang around as it was raining.

I said hello to Alice, our very favourite neighbour.
Alice died last year.
We have many many fond memories of Alice.
We would go in every Christmas and share a bottle of rum.

Remind me to tell you about the incident with the glass of rum and the fireplace! LOL!

Inside, one of the church elders, Jo was ringing the bells.





The church is a beautiful building, of significant historical interest.
This arch takes it back to the Norman time.





The advent colour is Purple.




There are many wonderful windows.
Here are just a couple.




We had visitors in church today.
This couple want to get married in the church next year.




After the service I made my way home.
Walking up the church drive I could see our house in the distance, so you can see how near we are.




The vicar was talking about the hustle and bustle of Christmas, about sorting out what matters and what doesn't.
The commercial versus the spiritual meaning of what it is all about!

I look forward in sharing the approaching Advent Sundays here.
I do hope you enjoyed your visit today!

Advent by Thom M. Shuman

if you came in the spring,
we could expect newness,
bright yellow flowers
to soften your path,
the songs of birds
to herald your coming.

but you came in
winter's despair;
the chill of complacency
settled upon us.

if you came in summer
we could expect you
to be bronzed,
blonde,
stepping from the sea;

but you came
in a stable,
a wrinkled baby

with animals your midwives,
and angels your playmates.

help us to set down
our parcels of expectations
to reach down and scoop
you up in our arms,
your laughing breath
giving us life.

Amen.