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…
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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…
Advent Calendar – 14 December
Nativity Stories: Mary When I hold him in my arms, so small, so fragile, so beautiful, it all seems incredible. I knew it was happening all right. My mother had told me it would be a pain like I’d never known but…
Advent Calendar – 13 December
Nativity Stories: Innkeeper People think it’s easy running an inn like mine. “You just sit there and coin it, Rachel,” they say. “Benjamin left you a nice little nest-egg.” And it’s true, when Benjamin died, God…
Advent Calendar – 12 December
Nativity Stories: Donkey It made a change from wood. That’s my usual load for Joseph, limbs or planks strapped across my back or offcuts plonked into baskets one on either side. I bring logs and branches from the…
Advent Calendar – 11 December
Nativity Stories: Augustus They never thank you, the people. They eat nutmeg from Ethiopia, cardamom from India, wines from the finest vineyards above the Danube; they have temples of sacrifice to give meaning to…
Advent Calendar – 10 December
Nativity Stories: Zechariah All men worry when a baby is due. There are too many women in the ground who did not survive their ordeal, too many infants who never lived to praise their Lord, or not beyond a day or…
Advent Calendar – 8 December
Nativity Stories: Elizabeth She looked fit to drop, the little creature, as she stood there catching her breath. She’d walked miles, anyone could tell, her feet were caked in dust, her dress dark with sweat. I was…