Hello Everyone.
I was listening to Don McLean’s classic song American Pie inthe car as I was driving to do a hospital visit. Buddy Holly and many of the greats came into my mind – here today, gone tomorrow, yet their legacy lives on. The words “The day the music died” are supposed to refer to Buddy Holly’s tragic death.
Thinking about Christmas this year, I got into thoughts of being born, living and leaving something worthwhile behind when we’re gone. This for me is the message of Christmas. Oh sure, Jesus certainly wasn’t born on 25th December. This date is said to be based on the date of a pagan festival rather than historical analysis.
It always makes me smile when I read scholars saying this and that about the date. Most assume the birth was somewhere between 6 and 4BC, probably in the Spring. Who cares! The point surely is that Jesus WAS born, lived, was crucified, rose again and lives today. His legacy is profound, still inspires and gives hope 2,000 years on.
My prayer this Christmas is that all the people suffering because of worries about putting food on the table, paying their heating bills, suffering in any way (not forgetting Ukraine), will find some solace in their Christmas festivities, however reduced they may be this year.
For unto us a child is born. The great musician George Friedrich Handel wrote Messiah in the late summer of 1741, when his future as a composer was in real jeopardy. The opera ventures he instituted and which had thrived for nearly two decades, were waning in popularity and about to fail. Wow, did he hit it big-time with Messiah! What a legacy!
Wishing you and yours a very Happy Christmas. I am always available for a chat or help if you need it.
‘Bye for now and God bless you
Rev Andrew