As I write this and probably as you read it, the world seems to be in a frantic whirl of activity.
It is still Advent. We are in a season of waiting and watching, as Tim wrote in Rector’s ramblings last month.
It should be a quiet time; but there is so much to be done.
Even the church’s preparations have an element of busyness – services to prepare and organise, who will help with the extra ones? Will all the usual helpers be away for Christmas? When should the Christmas tree go up – and who will put it up and decorate it? How many oranges are needed for Christingle? … the list goes on.
And then there is the preparation on the home front. No matter how simple we want to keep things, however much we want to focus on what Christmas is really about, there are still things to be done to prepare for sharing the time with family and friends.
Christmas, of course, does not end with Christmas Day. The Christmas season goes on into the new year. In fact New Year’s Day this January is on the Second Sunday of Christmas, with Epiphany following on the 6th of January and lasting until the 2nd of February when we celebrate Candlemas, remembering Mary and Joseph taking the infant Jesus to be presented to the priest in the Temple.
That’s a much longer time to celebrate the Joy of Christmas than most people realise !
Then we start to think about 2017.
Lots of people make a whole lot of resolutions and commitments for the next year- things they will try to do better than they have in the past, or new things to try. That can all be quite stressful, especially when the resolutions are broken in the first week!
An article by Kate Humble about the need to be more gentle with ourselves made me think of the following poem.
It’s good advice for us all.

Take Time

Take time to think;
it is the source of power.
Take time to read;
it is the foundation of wisdom.
Take time to play;
it is the secret of staying young.
Take time to be quiet;
it is the opportunity to seek God.
Take time to be aware;
it is the opportunity to help others.
Take time to love and be loved;
it is God’s greatest gift.
Take time to laugh;
it is the music of the soul.
Take time to be friendly;
it is the road to happiness.
Take time to dream;
it is what the future is made of.
Take time to pray;
it is the greatest power on earth.
Author Unknown
Love Prayers and Blessings,

Joy