In the bleak midwinter

An apt video and hymn for today as we look out on the snow, beautiful to our eyes but deadly to the poor.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,

The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

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The Upper Rooms

We often think of the 'upper room' as being the place where Jesus and the Disciples held the Last Supper but the Bible has many more 'upper rooms'.

Watching the BBC interview of Adele by Graham Norton tonight and Adele sang one of the new tracks off her forthcoming album. The track was called A Million Years Ago. Listening to it reminded me of a different song by someone else. You know where you almost recognise a tune but get lost with the words, yet it's the words which are the key! Eventually it came to me, El Shaddai by Michael Card, famously sung by Amy Grant. It's a song that I occasionally play during worship. Have a listen. What do you think?

Distant Pics of St Michael's Abbey

Seems that every Saturday when I take Charlie for a walk we stop and look at the sheep, and St Michael's Abbey at Farnborough. Well I say 'we' but I really mean me. Charlie is far too busy rooting round in the undergrowth for something to eat. Met a man who was working on the boundary fence from the inside. He was repairing a 'doorway' that had been cut in the mesh fence. Was probably going to be used to enable something of a reasonable size to be pilfered from somewhere in the monastery grounds, or even a sheep. Pray for the monastery, Abbey, those who have their vocation there and those who labour in support. And also pray for those who vandalise and steal from this wonderful place. The guided tours they do on a Friday are worth it as well and is also an opportunity for them to be supported. Monastery with crooked cross and dome of the Abbey Baa! Someone's been at it with the filters again

The Sign Of The Cross

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