Prelude Melodia Africana I by Ludovico Einaudi
Opening Words For the last days of Christmas by Cliff Reed (adapted)
Tree lights still twinkle
in front-room windows,
but this Christmas is fading
and the New Year brightens
imperceptibly.
May the spirit of the season
outlast its trappings
and, like the Magi,
may we travel into
the unknown future
by the light of the Christ-child.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point). Words by Lois Van Leer
We light this chalice on the brink of a new year
Letting go of what has been
Open and hopeful for what may come
Renewed, restored, ready
To live Life fully anew
May we move forward with intention.
Opening Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love,
be with us as we gather for worship,
each in our own place.
Help us to feel a sense of community,
even though we are physically apart.
Help us to care for each other,
in this world in which Covid has not yet gone away,
and the clouds of war and climate change overshadow us.
May we keep in touch however we can,
and help each other, however we may.
May we be grateful for the freedoms we have
and respect the wishes of others.
May we hold in our hearts all those
who are grieving, lost, alone,
suffering in any way,
Amen
Story by Kay Millard (adapted)
In the village lived a very old lady. She was older than anyone else in the neighbourhood. No-one could remember anyone living to such a great age. She had seen more years come and go than anyone else could imagine.
She remembered when cars were very rare. She remembered when there was no television, only the radio – which she still called the wireless. She remembered when there were shops in the village – a bakery, a butcher’s, a greengrocer, and of course a Post Office – instead of the Expresso Supermarket off the roundabout on the bypass. She was a very interesting old lady to talk to about her memories and had been interviewed by someone who collected tales of past days.
And yet, the old lady did not live in the past. She kept her eye on what was happening in the world. She noted new inventions, but she had seen so many in her lifetime that she had stopped being surprised by them. After all, she had been born when aeroplanes had been flimsy things that could barely cross the Channel, but lived to see a man walking on the moon, and what could possibly beat that?
Nevertheless, each year, on New Year’s Eve, the old lady made a list of things she would like to see happen in the coming year. Although her hand was a little shaky, her writing was always clear. She wrote:
- I want to see peace throughout the world
- I want to see everyone with enough to live on and able to enjoy the blessings of life
- I want to see all children happy and secure
- I want to see all those who are ill or in pain given the best medical treatment
- I want to see everyone having an education that makes the most of their abilities
Then she lit a candle and said: “Until I see these things I shall go on praying for them.” If you go to the village, you will find that she is still there, praying for all these things. And that she will be writing her list, and lighting her candle, in a couple of days’ time.
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust. Amen
Reading As the year winds down by Mark Stringer
As the year winds down to its close
And we are submerged once again
In the seasonal darkness we have come to know so well,
We have reason to think back upon the year that was,
If only because it will soon be gone.
We think back to the friends we have made,
The sorrow we have endured
The love we have found
The loneliness we have survived.
We think back to the blessings of being forgiven
And the gift we offered to ourselves when we forgave.
We think back to those who listened to us in our times of need
And the times we could have listened more.
We think back to the things we traded for our time
And to what we may have overlooked in the process.
We think back to the times when we were afraid and uncertain and we trudged ahead anyway, and the times when we were compassionate when we could have been cold.
In this season of still-growing night
May we see more clearly
Against the dark backdrop of our living
The true light of our lives:
The love we give to others
And the peace we nurture in ourselves.
Prayer Christmas Aftermath by Cliff Reed
Thou out of whose mystery came Jesus to show your love for us,
who gave us Christmas as a time of hope,
be with us as the world closes in once again.
We want our Christmas faith in the power of peace
to be a faith for the whole year.
We want our Christmas spirit of love and goodwill
to be a spirit for the whole year.
We would believe that Christmas promise
is mightier than the world’s betrayal – help thou our unbelief.
In the aftermath, grant us the clarity of a bright winter’s morning,
a pure vision to follow for the world’s healing.
And give us the dedication to make it real.
Amen
Reading In Between by Kate R. Walker
In between, liminal, that space where we wait.
Between moments; events, results, action, no action.
To stand on the threshold, waiting for something to end,
And something new to arrive, a pause in the rumble of time.
Awareness claims us, alert, a shadow of something different.
In between invitation and acceptance.
In between symptom and diagnosis.
In between send and receipt of inquiry and question.
In between love given and love received.
Liminality, a letting go, entering into confusion,
ambiguity and disorientation.
A ritual begun, pause … look back at what once was,
Look forward into what becomes.
Identity sheds a layer, reaches into something uncomfortable to wear.
In between lighting of the match and the kindling of oil.
In between choosing of text and the reading of words.
In between voices and notes carried through the air into ears to hear.
In between creation thrusts ever forward.
Social hierarchies may disassemble and structures may fall.
Communities may revolt or tempt trust.
Tradition may falter or creativity crashes forward.
Leaders may step down or take charge.
The people may choose or refuse.
In between, storm predicted, the horizon beacons.
In between, theology of process reminds us to step back.
In between, where minutia and galaxies intermingle with microbes and mysteries.
In between, liminal, that space where we wait: Look, listen, feel, breathe.
Time of Stillness and Reflection words by Alison Patrick
One year draws to an end, and a new year is soon to begin. Because it is our tradition that the years end here in December, we may feel a burden of significance, the responsibility of resolutions.
We try to let go of the past, only to shackle ourselves to future expectations.
Help us to simply greet each new day as it comes and do the best we can.
We do not forget either the sorrows or joys of the last year –
They are now part of us.
Help us to be at peace with our sorrows and our joys as we go forward.
We do not forget the injustices and suffering that have happened in the last year,
Because the world needs us to remember and to mind.
[silence]
Help us not to be downhearted, but to comfort and
Work for better wherever we can.
Living within nature, taking care of one another, letting go.
Blessed be, Amen
Musical Interlude I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi
Address From Holy Day to Holiday
And just like that, Christmas is over. This strange year of 2024 is drawing to a close – in two days’ time, it will be New Year’s Eve, and I am sure that we are all hoping that the New Year will bring better tidings – that the world will become a little more peaceful, its resources more equally distributed.
We are now in the in-between time between Christmas and New Year. I have always enjoyed this quiet part of the Christmas season, as the days out are over and we have time to reflect quietly, peacefully, on the year that has been, and perhaps on our hopes for the year to come. The Winter Solstice was last weekend, and even now, the days are getting longer – we may not notice it at first, or even perhaps for weeks to come, but it is true – each day, the sun rises a little earlier and sets a little later.
This year, my husband and I will be spending (will have spent by the time this service goes out) Christmas Day alone together, for the first time in 34 years. The main reason for this was that our grandson, who came to us with my son and the rest of the family on Christmas Day last year, was thoroughly overwhelmed by everything happening on the one day. So this year, we’re seeing them all today, on the 29th, giving him time to appreciate the toys he opened on Christmas morning, without having to dash off somewhere else. And the other is that my daughter’s partner is a policeman, and is required to work over the Christmas period this year. So our family celebration will be a few days late.
A friend of mine recently posted a meme on Facebook, which reads: “That bit between Christmas and New Year where you don’t know what day it is, who you are, or what you’re supposed to be doing. Happy ‘that bit’!”
And the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I realise that I really love “that bit”, when the frenetic socialising in the lead-up to Christmas and the two Big Days (Christmas Day and Boxing Day) are over, and I have the chance to sit down quietly and appreciate the days that have gone, and the people with whom I have spent them, and the gifts I have received. I am blessed in usually being able to take the period between Christmas and New Year off work. There is generally oodles of food left in the fridge and cupboard, so we can nibble on our favourite dainties, and drink our favourite drinks (peppermint and liquorice tea, in my case) without the pressure to put on a show. And there is often something good to watch on the TV. It is an interlude of peace between the frenzy of Christmas, and the re-dedication to work that the New Year brings. And I am very grateful for it.
Yes, this quieter time is the part of the Christmas holiday that I really appreciate. More a time of holy-days (which is where the word “holiday” comes from), and less frenetic socialising. For me it’s a time to give my soul room to breathe, to relax. Which is, after all, what a holiday should be about.
Yet how often do we take the time to rest, to breathe, to relax, even on holiday? In our family, the main holiday each year is usually spent exploring a new city, which is great fun and very interesting, even satisfying, but it is rarely about giving my soul room to breathe. Walking holidays near lakes and mountains do that, but again, they’re still active.
I don’t think I have ever been on holiday, and just rested. Just. Rested. Not that I’d enjoy the lying-around-doing-nothing kind of holiday – I would quickly be bored out of my skull – but still… Often, when we return from an exploring-a-new-city holiday, we’ve packed so much in to our few days away that I come home needing another holiday to get over it! So this interim time between Christmas and New Year is generally the only time I get to Just Rest. And that is good.
I find it so interesting that the derivation of the word “holiday” is holy day. Because on holy days, we do stop and rest, and give our souls room to breathe. In the 21st century, the emphasis has changed from devotional time to leisure time… These days, everyone expects a certain amount of “time off” from their chosen work (except the parents of young children, of course, who never get a day off, ever)! Christmas Day and Boxing Day (and perhaps New Year’s Day) were the only times when ordinary folk were not expected to work from morning until night. Then in the 1950s, the idea of the “factory fortnight”, also known as the summer shutdown, began to be popular among UK manufacturers. The idea was two-fold: it gave the factories two weeks without operating, so that essential maintenance could be carried out without disruption, and it also enable workers and their families to rest and relax for a couple of weeks. Win, win. The timing varied across the country, but usually within the six weeks during which the schools were closed.
These days, most people in employment are granted all Bank Holidays (or time off in lieu if they are required to work them), plus a certain amount of paid annual leave. Which is a privilege we ought not to take for granted. And for many people, their holiday cannot be taken when they choose; it has to fit in with their employers’ wishes. This is particularly true of people working in essential services such as the police, fire brigade and ambulance services, as well as care workers, nurses, and many other people whom we require a 365 day a year service from.
Even in the retail sector, Christmas Day is practically the only day in the year that most shops close altogether. And even then, convenience stores will remain open for at least part of the day… as well as restaurants and hotels. When I worked for Northamptonshire’s Schools Library Service, many years ago, the fortnight between the end of the Autumn term and the beginning of the Spring term was one of our busiest, so at least some of us were required to be present, so that the Spring term’s project boxes could be packed. My ingenious boss devised a three year rota. You were allocated one of the following periods as annual leave, but were required to be at work for the other two: before Christmas, between Christmas and New Year, after New Year.
So having experienced working on “holidays” first hand, I never forget to appreciate the people who work during the times when most of us are able to rest and relax, particularly on Bank Holidays and over Christmas.
Of course, holy days, in the original sense of those words, are still alive and well. For Christians, the chief ones are Easter and Christmas, although many Catholics and Orthodox Christians also celebrate particular saints’ days. For Muslims, the most important holidays are Eid-al-Fitr (after Ramadan) and Eid-al-Adha (at the end of the Hajj). Jewish people have two holiday seasons: the Spring Feast of Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot (Weeks), and the Autumn Feasts of Rosh Hashanah (Head of the Year) and Yom Kippur, (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Tabernacles) and Shemini Atzeret (Eighth Day of Assembly). There is also Hanukkah, which usually takes place in December.
December is a popular time for festivals; not only are there Hanukkah and Christmas, but also the Pagan festival of Yule. Pagans may also celebrate the other seven points on the Wheel of the Year: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain, as well as the two solstices (of which Yule is one) and two equinoxes.
The Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, is also celebrated in the late Autumn / early Winter. Another popular Hindu festival is Holi, the festival of colours. Sikhs commemorate events in the lives of their Gurus, plus Vaisakhi, and Buddhists commemorate events of the Buddha’s life, as well as Vesak. So there is no shortage of holy days to celebrate, but in this country at least, adherents of these faith traditions will have to take time off work to participate in them.
The final thought I would like to leave you with is that for some people, this “holiday season” is far from merry and bright. Grief and loss, poor health and loneliness, war and violence are very present facts of life for many people. So reach out to a friend or neighbour during this time, whom you know may not be doing so well. It may make all the difference.
I hope that for you, this holiday season has been a good one, and that you have found the time to allow your soul to breathe, as well as for socialising. We need both.
Closing Words
Spirit of Life and Love,
Our time together is drawing to a close.
May we appreciate the quiet time
between Christmas and New Year,
and enter 2025 in good heart.
May we share the love we feel,
may we look out for each other,
and may we keep up our hearts,
being grateful for the many blessings in our lives,
now and in the days to come, Amen
Postlude Stella del Mattino by Ludovico Einaudi