Advent Calendar – 25 December
Nativity Stories: Mary They grow up so fast. One day you’re delighted they can say Mama, and the next they’re heading out on a job with their own tools, sharpened the night before, ready to help their father. You…
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Advent Calendar – 24 December
Nativity Stories: Joseph It takes you over when you have a child. Protection. Nothing much else matters except making sure they’re safe. I see dangers everywhere now – food on the turn, a chesty cough, a bump on his…
Advent Calendar – 23 December
Nativity Stories: Anna They’re always rude about us, the old wifies. We get in the way of progress, they say, with our old ways of doing things, our opposition to progress. We take up the precious time of the Temple…
Advent Calendar – 22 December
Nativity Stories: Simeon I’ve been ready to go for a long time. There comes a point when you wake up and feel your bones ache, and you’re not sure if you’ll make the pot in time, and you can’t get clear no matter how…
Advent Calendar – 21 December
Nativity Stories: Magi The star, at least, didn’t lie. Of Herod, we could not be sure – our expertise is with things far distant from us, the lights of heaven, the guardians of day and night. People eclipse their…
Advent Calendar – 20 December
Nativity Stories: Chief Priests and Scribes of the People Speak truth to power. They make it sound so easy, as if they were saying, Speak in full sentences or Don’t talk with your mouth full. As if they would leave…
Advent Calendar – 19 December
Nativity Stories: Herod Shifting. Things are always shifting, someone’s always altering position, moving out of sight, building underground. A merchant buys another, and with his wealth he’s stronger and others…
Advent Calendar – 18 December
Nativity Stories: Magi Our bread and butter, you could say, is charts. The people come and put a coin or two into our hands and expect a chart. Will this woman make a good wife? When would be propitious for the…
Advent Calendar – 17 December
Nativity Stories: Joseph It was crooked. I saw that straight away. One leg would always be off the ground. Shoddy work. I’d half a mind to borrow tools from a joiner round here and set it right. But how could I,…
Advent Calendar – 15 December
Nativity Stories: Angel I don’t suppose I should have a favourite mission. They all matter; I witness the impact each message has. I’ve seen the most closed-up people cracked open by a word, tears flowing from eyes…