All bowed before the new-born
In that stable forlorn
Shepherds and their beasts
And the magi from the east
The noble men of wealth
Concerned about his heath
Gave gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold
Gifts his tiny hands could not hold
And at the centre of this scene
Slept the young King serene
They stood in breathless wonder
At the babe so meek and mild
And with their gifts they knelt
At the feet of the holy child
Pulled with violence
To break the silence
Choring, drawing
Mechanism priming
Ready for chiming
Banging, clanging
Momentum gaining
Timbers straining
Creaking, speaking
Mechanical timing
With rhythm climbing
Swaying, obeying
The peel resounding
A sound astounding
Ringing, singing
The call goes out
Around and about
Voicing, rejoicing
Come says the calling
Come one and all in
Morning, morning
Christ born this day
The Christmas bells say
Rejoicing, rejoicing
“God with us,” or Emmanuel
“A savior”
In Hebrew called Joshua
In Greek the name was Jesus
“The chosen one”
In Hebrew called Messiah
In Greek named Christ
Jesus Christ
The Son of God
A Jew Born in the Roman Empire
Given by God to the world
For two thousand years
Not known by a Latin name
But known by all by his name in Greek
There is a legend suggesting that Martin Luther
Who was a sixteenth century religious
reformer
And founder of the Protestant church in
Germany
Was the first to put candles onto a Christmas
tree
It’s said he was walking home one winter’s
night
When he noticed the stars were shinning
bright
And through the tree’s he saw the twinkling
light
And he was so impressed by this majestic
sight
When he returned home he set up his Christmas
tree
Decorating it with lighted candles for all to
see
In Rome a monk living about 530 ad
A mathematician and an
astronomer
Was given the task of calculating
And reforming the Christian
calendar
In essence to pinpoint with all precision
The date of Jesus Christ’s
birth exactly
A miscalculation was discovered later
He was four years out
unfortunately
Christ was born on January the sixth
According to the scholarly
Egyptians
The date of Christ’s death was thought
More important to the early
Christians
Rome selected Christ’s birth date to be
On the twenty fifth day of
December
To coincide with the old pagan festivals
Like that of Mithras and
Saturnalia
The sixth of January is Christmas day
For the apostolic church from
Armenia
But its the following day that’s Special
For the Orthodox Church of Russia
Faith is such a simple concept
It’s so simple
It’s just about belief
It’s so completely uncomplicated
You just have to believe
No strings attached
Just unconditionally believe
And if you do the world is your oyster
All your doubts and fears subside
When you accept his existence
His, hers its
The creator, the deity
The master puppeteer
Don’t analyse it
Don’t try to define it
To deconstruct it
Don’t worry about the Who the what or the why
Its doesn’t matter
Don’t worry about who the creator is
It doesn’t matter what race
What gender, what creed or what colour
Just accept it, embrace it
You still won’t be able to see it
But you’ll know its there
It’s totally invisible to your senses
Yet it connects with you at the core
With your essence, your soul
You can’t see it yet its wonders are all
around
You can’t hear it
Yet its sound fills the world
You can’t taste it
But it’s the spice of all life
You can’t smell it
But its exotic and heady fragrance is on
every breath of wind
And you can’t touch it
But it can be felt when it touches you
Omnipresent,
Omnipotent
Omniscient being
Ever present,
All powerful
All knowing, all
seeing
Awesome,
Ubiquitous God
Of our spiritual
wellbeing
Of everlasting life,
Salvation guaranteeing
God winds the clock of life,
It is wound but once
And when set in
motion,
At the moment the
second hand
Begins its sweep
It can be neither
slowed
Nor hurried
There is no hint of
duration
No preset point
When the hands cease
The only certainty
Is that the time piece
will stop
All you can do is be
ready for that day
Leave nothing unsaid
Nothing undone
Place your faith in
God
And not the timepiece
Live your allotted
time fully
And have no regrets
When the movement
stops
At the appointed hour
A cross for you,
A symbol of your
sacrifice
A cross for me,
A sign of my devotion
Across the veil
To the place beyond
To bathe together
In everlasting love
One of the twelve
Simon the
Zealot
Witness of the
ascension
Who then
spread the Gospels
Far and
wide
Was Martyred in Beirut
In the Roman province
of Syria
Feast Day October 28th
We’ll reach our God,
In heavens palaces
Leaving our bodies,
Heavy like stone,
And take flight
On angels wing
And bathe in His glory
The Choirs of Heavenly hosts
The angels, Archangels
Principalities and
Authorities
The Virtues,
Dominions,
Thrones or Orphanim
The Cherubim and
Seraphim
The Holy Spirit
My lord Jesus Christ
And the Heavenly
Father
Protect me all my days
Born to a noble Roman family
In the 3rd century AD,
Crispin and Crispinian,
Persecuted for their
faith,
Fled their homeland
And travelled to Gaul
And preached
Christianity
To the Gaul’s in
Soissons.
They made shoes by
night
To support themselves
And also aided the
poor
But their evangelical
success
Brought them to the
attention
Of a jealous Rictus
Varus,
Governor of Belgic
Gaul,
Who brought their good
works
To a savage end
A Christian Legend tells
That Crispin and
Crispinian
The Roman Princes,
Saints and shoemakers,
Lived for a short time
During the 3rd century
In the Kent town of Faversham
The association is
recalled
By a plaque on the
Swan,
In Market Street
Saint Crispin's Day
Falls on 25th October
And is the feast day
Of the martyred twins
Crispin and Crispinian
The Christian Saints
Martyred c. 286
25th October is the feast day
Of Crispin and Crispinian
Although now removed
From the Universal Liturgical
calendar
Of the Roman Catholic
Church
The Sainted Twins
Are still commemorated
On that day in the
Roman Martyrology
And the feast remains
as a
“Black Letter Saints'
Day”
In the calendar of the
Anglican
Book of Common Prayer
I have always had faith
An unaccountable
Unshakable faith
But only in God
My faith in him
Was a constant
The only constant
In an uncertain world
It was the Church
I had no truck with
My faith did not
extend
To the institution
Of the Church
Or its instruments
Its rituals and
Mechanisms of control
I have no issue with
The Church family
Well meaning folk
One and all
Doing the great things
And the small with
equal relish
They are just not for
me
I chose to worship
alone
Just me and my God
My Church was a quiet
wood
My Cathedral a hill
top
So to stand before the
cross
In the old Chapel
Was a departure for me
A departure from the
norm
But exceptional
circumstances
Called for exceptional
measures
It was an old place
An ancient place
A powerful place
A conduit to God
To amplify my faith
So I fell to my knees
In the ancient chapel
Humbling myself
Before my God
When I was first diagnosed
I didn’t say why me?
I didn’t blame God
I didn’t curse him
Or hate him
Or ask the question
Why me Lord?
All my life
I have been blessed
And when good things
Happened in my life
I didn’t say “why me?”
The good book
A trusty tome
Full of comfort and
succour
Hope and salvation
A reliable companion
A stalwart in
adversity
A true bestseller
Sometimes contentious
Often misquoted
Frequently misused,
The devout and the
atheist
Quote in equal measure
From its voluminous
pages
They scour and pillage
Cherry picked passages
To support a
particular stance
At times it can even
satisfy
Both sides of the same
argument
Inclusive and
accessible to all
In the right hands
It illuminates and
empowers
In the wrong hands
It divides and imposes
The bible in truth
Is full of ambiguities
And numerous
contradictions
But most important of
all
It contains essential
truths
When love fills the heart
Until it
overflows
There is but one thing
to-do
As everyone knows
And that is to share
it out
With friends and foes
We live in a cynical world
So why should we believe
We think our politicians
Are programmed to deceive
We distrust anyone wearing
Their heart on their sleeve
So is it any wonder that
On the whole we disbelieve
Now doubtless you will tag me
As impossibly naive
But for me it is impossible
For me to ever conceive
Of a universe where God
Is absent from the weave
Let God within your heart
Fill the void of
darkness
Fill it with love and
joy
Let his love envelope
your being
Let him bring light
Where darkness once
dwelt
Let him bring love
Where hate once ruled
Let him bring
happiness
Where sadness held dominion
At his bedside
The gentle Angel stood
Watching as a man slept,
Listening
to his quiet
Shallow breath
The Angel
reached out a hand
And spoke softly
“Come with me now,
It’s time to see the lord”
So sleeping no more
He left his empty body
And took the offered hand
The Angel
smiled
And they began to ascend
To a better place and time.
They
travelled vertically
Though not
through a tunnel,
As he was
expecting,
It was more like
a chimney.
They climbed
toward a light,
Which was as
expected,
And the light
became ever brighter
Until its brilliance
Became almost blinding
All at once, they emerged,
Into the land of light and love
The gentle
Angel smiled
Before
evaporating into the light
And the man was surrounded
By those who had passed before
Familiar
faces greeted him
Loved ones from
years past
And they
introduced him
To the delights of paradise,
Where milk and honey flowed.
Scenes of unimagined
beauty,
Sweet perfumed
air, heavenly music
And Choirs of angels singing
But what
overpowered his senses
Seeping through
every pore
Overwhelming him
and filling his heart
Was a pure
everlasting love
If not the Lord, then who?
If not salvation, then what?
Raiki, Yoga or Feng Shui?
Worshiping the elements
Or the sun and the moon?
Life without Gods guidance
Leads to a return to chaos
The savagery of Pagan times
Before the Fisher of Men
Cast his net
If not our Lord, then who?
What idol?
What fad or fashion?
What new Gods
Will replace Him?
Plastic surgeons
Pandering to vanity,
Or De-toxing clinics
Health spas
And colonic irrigation
Or wannabee’s
Worshiping celebrity
At the altar of fame?
If not the Christ
Then what?
Life without faith
Is not a loss of belief
For even without faith
They don’t stop believing
Because they have a need
A desperate need
To believe in something
So they believe
In everything
And anything
Except the risen Christ
Everything is not
Wrong in the world
There is a sign of
hope
God is our inspiration
And our Guiding light
God has always been
The source of special
love
A perfect loving faith
That fits me like a
glove
Voices in prayer are never silent
As we pray to our Lord
on high
Our prayers to heaven ascended
And we lift our eyes
to the sky
In hymns and psalms rejoicing
We praise
our Lord on high
Our praise
to heaven ascended
And we
lift our voices to the sky
A heart of perfect love
Love being the leaven
To help you Ascend
To the highest Heaven
Sent from on high
So heavenly demure
A soul of purest light
An angel so pure
To take your hand
When it’s time
And comfort you
On you heavenly climb
Sent from the heavens above
An unseen arbiter of
love
To help the lovers
choose
And with introductions
done
The angel ascends
The life thou gavest Lord is ending
The
darkness falls at Thy behest
And I know that I am
bound
For my expected
eternal rest
Please one last time
let me kiss
My loved ones once or
twice
And let me just say
goodbye
Before I cross over to
paradise
If you never went to church
But watched songs of praise
That might not be good enough
When under St Peters gaze
Our local church is raising money
For restoration to the steeple
Donors make an online payment
Using the secure system, Papal
Balthazar, Melchior and Caspar
The wise men of the
east
Search for the prince
of peace
Gods dove against the
beast
And with the holy
birth
The light of love was
released
The good against the evil
The great against the
least
The light against the
darkness
Open up your barren heart
Light a candle in the
dark
And the shepherd of
the light
Will stand for the
righteous fight
The shining prince of
peace
Shining like the
Golden Fleece
Oh lamb of God, oh
perfect light
Will banish evil from
the night
