Radio services and the grace of other people's liturgies ...

Regular readers of this blog (if there are any left after the hiatus of recent weeks) will have gathered that the Stranzblog household is in a state of flux at the moment, heading towards much that is unknown in the New Year. I'm not going to write too much about that here, gradually things will become clearer I hope.
I have spent Christmas very quietly moving from the sofa to the kitchen and to bed - inbetween dosing myself with antibiotics and coughing. It's been almost the first time ever that I haven't been able to go to Church over Christmas and I've missed that. However, I've been blessed to be able to listen to the radio and really appreciated two broadcast services the first from St Martin in the Fields on Christmas Day and the second on St Stephen's Day from Prague - it linked Wenceslas, St Vaclav, the velvet revolution and much more besides. If you follow the link you can read some good blogposts about the making of the Prague programme.
Both services were meditative, meaningful and joyful without being preachy, they were locally rooted and thoroughly international which touched me. You can download transcripts.
Here's a longer extract from Petra Elsmore's meditation:

Stephen couldn’t keep his mouth shut. His speech to the Council goes on and on – covering two pages in my Bible. And towards the end, it becomes a bit of a rant – “You stiff necked people,” he says. “Are your ears full of wax? You worship the law, not the living God”…Enraged, they take up stones and the first Christian martyr is killed.
His words might seem to us now to be inflammatory perhaps. Luke’s story leaves us with an uncomfortable feeling when seen from this side of the Holocaust. But Stephen’s extreme language was born of an extreme time – here was a new branch of the faith struggling to discover its own identity and rebelling against its parent… perhaps it’s helpful to see Stephen’s anger in that light.
Like so many Martyrs, Stephen’s trouble was that he made a nuisance of himself – he spoke out rather than keeping silent. Stephen, like Jesus, like so many who have been killed for their faith since then, died not for the beliefs in his head, but for the actions and the words which flowed from those beliefs. His passion for Christ led him in the end to share his master’s fate.
Here in the Czech Republic, during the days of communism, speaking out could get you locked up in prison, you could lose your job, you could be placed under heavy surveillance and constantly intimidated…. But courageous individuals spoke out again and again throughout those difficult years… people who paid the ultimate price because something in them just had to protest against the injustice and inhumanity of those in power. It takes extraordinary courage to be the one person in 10,000 who is willing to put their head above the parapet and take a stand. In the Czech Republic, often the individuals who did so were artists, writers, performers, poets and musicians. Vratislav Brabenec, a member of the underground band “The Plastic People of the Universe” said "We weren't political, man. We were just trying to be poetical." Asked why the band would not accept government control, he answered: "That's freedom, man, I'd die for that."
Faced with injustice, most people keep their heads down and prefer not to get involved. We like a quiet life, we worry about our reputations, we conform to comfortable social norms. Speaking out always carries a price. And in the West or even in post-communist Czech Republic, it may seem that there is little to protest about… but when we open our eyes to those at the margins of society and to those who struggle to feed their children in a wealthy society, we might think again.
The root meaning of the word ‘martyr’ is to be a witness. Are we willing to take a stand like Stephen, when our faith and sense of justice demands we act or speak and make a nuisance of ourselves for what we believe in?

On the cusp of epiphany

For morning prayer the chapel was warmer even as we trudged through crisp snow once more to get to work.
We are praying through the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle for the countries of the gulf peninsula this week including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran and Iraq ...
Today was the eve of epiphany, the last day of Christmas - even if tomorrow is traditionally 12th night. We lit candles on the Christmas wreath, we prayed and we listened to the second half of chapter 2 of John's gospel. The money changers being driven from the temple. I always think of MArk's gospel as being the one that really gets on with the story yet it struck me powerfully today that John gets to grips with even more in terms of who Christ in within two chapters. The glorious logos-celebrating poetry of the beginning moves on to John the Baptist's preaching, confessions of faith about the Messiah and Jesus choosing disciples and then turning of water into wine at Cana. And this followed directly by the shocking story of Christ making a whip and turning over the tables of the money lenders. No shepherds, wise men or angels, no baby in a manger nor pregnant young woman for the teller of John's gospel.
Christ the logos of truth and light is confessed as the messiah, leads and chooses followers, humbly turns water into glorious wine (as a foretaste of the resurrection banquet) and becomes the prophetic logos incarnate sternly saying "you will not turn my father's house into a market place".
On the last day of Christmas I realised once more that the Christmas story isn't about prettiness and niceness this is about God incarnate bening born amongst us to to transform us and the world.

Some words from Venice

Not much to say, too busy having a great time relaxing, discovering and getting lost in the amazingly lovely and enchanting streets and lanes.
On Christmas Eve the flood sirens sounded at about 10pm and when we woke on Christmas morning the Agua Alta had been but was already well on its way to receding and the rain had stopped. We attended a Book of Common Prayer service at St George's English church - the small congregation invited everyone to prosecco and panetone afterwards to celebrate Christmas. (I am not a fan of the BCP - well I am a non-conformist - but it seems to be much loved by expat Anglican communities, the thees and thous are almost unpronounceable even for mother tongue English speakers ... and as for the theology, far too much concentration on sin and not enough on grace.)
Then we set off for a day on the vaparettos enjoying sunshine and amazing views across the lagoon as the mists gave way to blue skies. We took far too many photos and found our way to a great little osteria in the early afternoon for some freshly cut parma ham with more prosecco.
Today we attended the German-speaking church, a good sermon and a rather low church Lutheran liturgy - followed by more panetone. Tomorrow a service in Italian may be tried. Quite fun to be ecclesiastical tourists in this place which seems even more international than Geneva, much to think about.
Ah yes and I've mentioned the prosecco but not the coffee, each espresso I drink is the best I've ever had. Wonderful.

And the angels sing - just for men or for humanity or for the world?

At our Advent service in the ecumenical centre we sang the angels' song from Luke's gospel Gloire à Dieu au plus haut des cieux paix sur la terre, sur la terre, bonne volonté envers le monde. Amen Alleluia
Of course the original French version in the hymn books says envers les hommes but I doctored that to say "le monde".
Meanwhile Suzanne Mccarthy, JK Gayle and the Better Bibles Blog have been having more erudite discussions about this than I am able to.
I do passionately believe that the Good News song is for all and hope that you too will hear some echo of it sung for you, those you love and those you find it hard to love this Christmas.
May we all become more angelic.

Buon natale! Christmas Eve greetings from Venice

The train from Geneva to Venice is direct but yesterday it was two hours late arriving, partly due to the usual delays around the Swiss Italian border. The journey was lovely and we looked out over snow covered Alpine landscapes as we ate breakfast in the restaurant carriage. Then in Milan irate passengers with tickets for other trains borded and squatted our train leading to a further hour's delay as the police tried to clear the train. An interesting start to the holiday!
The advantage to this delay was that it had stopped raining by the time we arrived in Venice and borded the vaparetto to take us along the Grand Canal to our hotel. It was amazing to be in this extraordinary city for the first time as dusk fell and the Christmas lights came on.
Last night we walked and walked and got lost and drank prosecco and ate pasta. Venice must be one of the few places in the world where coffee is more expensive than in Ferney Voltaire!
So here we are and today we have found the Protestant church and visited the baroque delights of some Venice Catholic churches.
We are reading and sleeping and thinking and laughing and amazed to be here. Such a privilege, so beautiful and a great break. Photos will follow I promise, what's the point of having a blog if you can't bore the everyone with your holiday snaps.

The mysterious word becomes flesh

Working and worshiping in a multilingual environment I end up having not entirely theological thoughts about the vagaries of biblical translation.
Does it change the meaning when the glories of the prologue to John's gospel are translated in the masculine, feminine or neuter? Suzanne Mccarthy has written much more eruditely than I could on whether logos is best translated as he, she or it.
This morning as we met for the final Monday morning prayers of the year I pondered the meaning or significance of gendered renderings of logos into our various langauges. German is clear with its neuter das Wort, French varies between le Verbe and la Parole depending on the translation. English - a normally ungendered language - nearly always refers to the Word as he, sometimes even as He.
Suzanne quotes Joel on John's prologue:
I believe that by using ‘it’, we allow John to breathe a bit, free of theology and dogma.

This morning I realised that the different translations and languages helped me to glimpse and comprehend in some small way the significance of the mystery of the ungendered gendered word becoming flesh.
The first of the great Advent antiphones begins with wisdom, sophia or logos. As we prayed and lit candles, sang and listened and kept silence we celebrated something of the known unknown mystery of the word or wisdom becoming flesh.

O wisdom, coming forth from the Most High,
filling all creation and reigning to the ends of the earth;
come and teach us the way of truth. Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.

Mirabile Dictu - Carol Ann Duffy

Mirabile Dictu
Ring out, ring out, the city bell.
So wonderful to tell -
sing out, sing out the Christams Tale
Mirabile Dictu

Mirabile Mirabile
Mirabile Dictu.
It holds, it holds us in its spell.
So wonderful to tell
the old, the gold, the Christmas Tale
Mirabile Dictu

Our joy, our joy we can not quell.
So wonderful to tell -
a boy, a girl, the Christmas Tale.
Mirabile Dictu.

A gift we cannot buy or sell.
So wonderful to tell -
uplift, uplift, the Christmas Tale.
Mirabile Dictu.

Ring out, ring out, the city bell.
So wonderful to tell -
sing out, sing out the Christams Tale
Mirabile Dictu.

copyright (c) Carol Ann Duffy

We recieved this on a Christmas card for St Ann's Hospice, the refrain picked out in the calligraphy pictured above.

Meanwhile Janet has also been blogging about Duffy's brilliant 12 Days of Christmas poem which is full of cultural reference to international and British politics and life.

Today is Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve for many Christians following the Julian calendar and Epiphany for those following the Gregorian calendar.

My friend Father Benedict Ioannou sent this wonderful icon as a Christmas greeting this year together with the meditation below which is not my usual style but which I though I would post today.


The incomprehensible and inexplicable Nativity of Christ came to pass when Herod the Great was reigning in Judea; the latter was an Ascalonite on his fathers's side and an Idumean on his mother's. He was in every way foreign to the royal line of David; rather, he had received his authority from the Roman emperors, and had ruled tyrannically over the Jewish people for some thirty-three years. The tribe of Judah, which had reigned of old, was deprived of its rights and stripped of all rule and authority. Such was the condition of the Jews when the awaited Messiah was born, and truly thus was fulfilled the prophecy which the Patriarch Jacob had spoken 1,807 years before: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of the nations" (Gen.49:10).
Thus, our Saviour was born in Bethlehem, a city of Judea, whither Joseph had come from Nazareth of Galilee, taking Mary his betrothed, who was great with child, that, according to the decree issued in those days by the Emperor Augustus, they might be registered in the census of those subject to Rome. Therefore, when the time came for the Virgin to give birth, and since because of the great multitude there was no place in the inn, the Virgin's circumstace constrained them to enter a cave which was near Bethlehem. Having as shelter a stable of irrational beasts, she gave birth there, and swaddled the Infant and laid Him in the manger (Luke 2:1-7). From this, the tradition has come down to us that when Christ was born He lay between two animals, an ox and an ass, that the words of the Prophets might be fulfilled: "Between two living creatures shalt Thou be known" (Abbacum 3:2), and "The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib" (Esaias 1: 3).
But while the earth gave the new-born Saviour such a humble reception, Heaven on high celebrated majestically His world-saving coming. A wondrous star, shining with uncommon brightness and following a strange course, led Magi from the East to Bethlehem to worship the new-born King. Certain shepherds who were in the area of Bethlehem, who kept watch while tending their sheep, were suddenly surrounded by an extraordinary light, and they saw before them an Angel who proclaimed to them the good tidings of the Lord's joyous Nativity. And straightway, together with this Angel, they beheld and heard a whole host of the Heavenly Powers praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men" (Luke 2:8-14).

The mystery worshipper is desperately needed - in Berlin

I was so looking forward to Christmas in Germany - the beautiful music, going to church, seeing friends, Christmas markets, being in the city of my dreams ... and it was wonderful, all of it.
Though I didn't expect to hear bad sermons - the first so joyless that it drove us to go to church again at midnight on Christmas Eve, where the sermon was better and involved the organ playing the heartbeat of God at the beginning and end very effectively. Then on Christmas morning we tried again - oh dear, more lengthy pseudo-intellectual joylessness - thankfully punctuated by perfect and glorious organ playing, but hey in the end I'm here for the word ...
Both Dr B and I had some theological issues with one aspect of the good midnight sermon but it was at least "preached" and gave food for thought about faith, life, God and values.
In the end a slip in theology but preached as if you want to communicate something you believe is worth sharing, wins hands down over the "I will show you how much I know in a disdainful voice for 25 minutes" approach. The services were perfectly executed but became in the end a triumph of form over content, quite a tragedy as most of the people there will have been in church for their annual Christmas fix.
Now I must do some research to see if something like Ship of Fools exists in Germany, one or two of the churches could really do with some systematic visiting by the mystery worshipper. Narrenschiff anyone?
Perhaps I should add that my own preaching is not always brilliant so I tend to be a fairly tolerant listener to sermons by others - I know how much work it is to prepare and preach them. I miss the discipline of the weekly sermon grind and I have sometimes had to get up very early on Christmas morning to write another sermon - having preached two a day for the previous week or so, I'm sure not all of them were great, but I hope they communicated some passion for the Good News.
I came away from our rather sobering German Christmas experience thinking about how possibly the insitence on getting the liturgy to perfectly dovetail means that everything is rather too orderly and perfect. Fortunately I have also heard some brilliant and simply good sermons in Germany in the past, and I am sure that many were also preached this Christmas.
However, if you like me had a bad sermon experience at Christmas then I really recommend Kim Fabricius' Christmas offering posted on Faith and Theology, you can read it here and here's the penultimate paragraph:
As for me, today I bring you good news about the God disclosed in this child, who happens to be the Word made flesh, the “little Word,” as St. Bernard called him. He has no time for religious fuss, he gives no points for moral rectitude, he is oblivious to all our other divisive cultural constructions, and he would not know theological correctness if it pulled down his nappy and smacked him on the bum. All – all – are welcome at the manger. He simply wants you to come as you are and to be there with him. All very natural, because although there is another world, you will find it nowhere else but hidden in this one.

I also highly recommend his Propositions on Christian Theology - a Pilgrim Walks the Plank, which was my Christmas gift. Preaching is about walking the plank and daring to communicate. In his 9.5 propositions on preaching Kim does say that lousy preaching is "alas, not a status confessionis" - ah well that's me put in my place - the bit about the sermon I am listening to "being my own obituary" also brought me up short. Perhaps my jottings on joyless sermons only say something about me and not about the preaching I listened to ...

Schleiermacher and Christmas

You can tell you are in Germany when you open your daily newspaper over breakfast (OK, it was the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - or FAZ ) on Christmas Eve and there is a whole page given over to "Bildungswelten"- in this case to an essay by theologian Eberhard Jüngel, on "Christmas Eve" by the 18th-19th century theologian Friedrich Daniel Schleiermacher. Written in the style of a platonic dialogue, the work is set in a bourgeois household on Christmas eve where the protagonists discuss the meaning of the incarnation. First published in 1806, the Christmas Eve story has become Schleiermacher's most republished work, born in 1768 as the son of a Reformed pastor, and educated by the Moravian Brethren (or Herrnhuter) from whom comes the Moravian Star that you see all over Berlin at Christmas time. With time, Schleiermacher grew away from the pietism of the Moravians, and after a time in Halle, spent the last 24 years of his life as a professor at the newly founded Friedrich Wilhelm university in Berlin (rebaptised the Humboldt University after the Second World War). He was also an ecumenist before his time, being an enthusiastic supporter of the union of Reformed and Lutheran churches proclaimed by the the king in 1817. He even wrote a - never enacted - constitution for the Reformed-Lutheran union - and, the FAZ tells us, his academic work suffered in the 1820s because of his involvement to the cause of church union.
In fact, just round the corner from where we are staying in Berlin is the new home of the Humboldt University's Theological Faculty (a far cry from the wooden "shed" near Friedrichstrasse in which the theology section was housed when Dr B studied there 25 years ago). The ground floor lobby of the theological faculty has this saying of Schleiermacher: "Soll der Knoten der Geschichte so auseinander gehen: Das Christentum mit der Barbarei, und die Wissenschaft mit dem Unglauben?" - Shall the knot of history unravel in such a way that Christianity is identified with barbarism and modern knowledge with unbelief?

Unedifying church campaign

One constant in Germany is that on the afternoon and evening of December 24th Protestants go to church - to get their yearly fix of some well-known Christmas carols. In some places people actually have to queue to get in.
This year in Berlin the Protestant and Catholic churches unashamedly used the Christmas influx to encourage people to sign a petition asking for a referendum on the right to choose freely between the teaching of ethics or of religion in Berlin-Brandenburg schools. In several places we got given the Christmas card pictured here with the call for a free vote in the star above the manger. I'm not very impressed but then that's probably because I've become infected by France's "Laicité".
If there is a referendum and if (very big if) it got through then Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims would all be able to choose religious education or ethics as a regular school subject. Interestingly this tolerant attitude towards religious education also being open to Muslims is not so evident in German states where churches already have the right to teach children in state schools and education facilities - although one excuse that is given for this is that many Islamic congregations are not organised in asociations.
For me the real problem is that the church relies on the right to teach children and young people in schools - and gets state money to do this - and this keeps the numbers of young people asking for confirmation artificially high. This teaching has something to do with faith but less to do with a community of faith. Meanwhile at one of the Christmas eve services we attended the children who were playing around at the front of the church were more or less sent out by the preacher. Perhaps it's about time to learn to connect with young people and children rather than make out the church is some poor victim in this situation in Berlin.

Moravian stars

Here's a picture of some Moravian Christmas stars. Defintiely my favourite Christmas decoration. We have a very delicate white paper one at home which we have to piece together in the right way - at the end of Christmas the points can be disassembled and put back into a small box. In Germany you can see Moravian stars all over at this time of year. The Christmas market on the Platz der Akademie has golden stars on top of every booth and the imposing Bertelsmann foundation building on Unter den Linden has them all around the top of the building and over every window and doorway - during the day they are white and at night yellow with the coloured bulbs inside. It looks very classy. Like this one here.
Meanwhile we've been discovering that Schleiermacher was a Herrnhüter (Moravian) and also wrote a Christmas story - more of this soon. This quite small denomination in Germany has an enormous influence on Church life and daily Bible readings in Germany through the Losungen
"Die LOSUNGEN bringen jeden Tag ein Wort aus dem Alten und aus dem Neuen Testament, sowie einen Liedvers oder ein Gebet, ohne jede weitere Auslegung. Sie verbinden Menschen aus verschiedenen Konfessionen und mit unterschiedlicher Frömmigkeit."

They also exist in English and other languages. The daily texts are chosen by lot and it's interesting to see how the verses given to each day resonate as historic events develop. This was particularly the case for me living in Germany as the Berlin wall came down and reunification began.

Herrnhuter churches and cemetries are also very beautiful and calm places. The gravestones all lie on the ground and are not especially imposing large structures, and in the churches often everything is painted white - including the pews. The aesthetics and spirituality of simplicity, equality, beauty and light.

Born in the night Mary's child

The original of this card was done by our friend Heather Budge Reid. I love the shape and smiles and the colours - even on this less than perfect scan.

Happy Christmas to you all wherever you are.

Compline for Christmas Eve

I'm about to go out to Berlin's French CAthedral and am listening to carols from Kings as I prepare. Then we will go out for Heiligabend with a friend of my parents. A quiet and gentle evening ahead.
Meanwhile over on 5 Lobes and 2 Fissures George has written a wonderful Christmas Eve Compline:

The bustle of the day has died away.
Still our minds, focused on the practicalities of tomorrow.
Still our minds to focus on the mystery of tonight.

Almighty God, fragile human – the impossible reality of your incarnation is so far beyond our grasp that we get lost in the ‘how’s and the ‘why’s of it. We only know that somehow the whole of time pivots on this moment. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, but a busy world barely noticed.

Refresh our jaded eyes to read those old, familiar stories once again.

In the sanctuary, a priest is struck dumb by an angel.
God who speaks in silence : when we want to argue our point loudest and longest, you call us to listen.

Teenager becomes woman in an instant “let it be with me according to your word”.
We are proud and jealous guardians of our self-determination, but you call us to obedience.

Young father, exposed to public disgrace for standing by his fiancé.
God-with-us in the chaos of doubt and questioning, you call us to faith.

Carpenter’s son, not the long-hoped-for warrior.
In a world of competition and conflict, you call us to be peacemakers.

Old man finds peace in the consolation of his people, after years of waiting.
God who transcends time, we want everything at the instant of asking, but you call us to patience.

All-powerful God, your incarnation – the ultimate vulnerability – is our ultimate challenge.
We hide behind our veneer of strength, but you call us to radical gentleness.

This is the counter-culture of your kingdom.

The Word became flesh.
Laughing, loving, embracing, joyful flesh.
Greater love has no man than this – that he lays down his life for his friends.
Broken, hurting, weeping, painful flesh.
My God, my God – why have you forsaken me?

The Word dwelt among us.
He worked with us, and walked with us.
Come, follow me.
He wept with us, and comforted us.
Do not be afraid.
He ate with us, and drank with us.
Do this in remembrance of me.
He taught us and prayed with us.
When you pray, say this : Our Father...

Joy to the world! Her Lord is come and will come. Almighty God, fragile human - we rejoice in you, and in you we will find our peace.

copyright (c) George Walsh

Stille Nacht from ASBO Jesus

So here's a fun picture from ASBO Jesus for "Heiligabend".

Folding Fröbel stars and the father of the Kindergarten

I learnt how to make these beautiful eight point stars while studying theology in the former GDR. One of the colleagues I was studying with wanted to make one for everyone at her Christmas service. As I have always loved origami I got the hang of how to do it quite quickly and because we had a lot to make that first time I tend to remember how it goes.
In Germany they are called Fröbelsterne after the educationalist Friedrich Fröbel - he's the person who came up with the concept of Kindergarten. Fröbel built on children's instinct for folding and plaiting to encourage understanding of mathematics so maybe that's why the star is named after him in Germany or maybe he was indeed its inventor.
AnywayI love trying to find time over Christmas to make some of the stars for friends. It's a great activity to do as a group as well - people can help each other out. These days I tend to make the stars out of gift tape like the one pictured here on Flickr because then I don't have to cut the strips up myself and everything slides into place nicely as well - with ordinary paper things can get a bit stuck. What actually works really well is strips of glossy magazine paper - it slides well, the stars look great, you've recycled the paper and I like having words and pictures on the stars.
Some places sell fairly traded stars made from palm fronds - and yes I admit to sitting on the beach in Martinique folding stars and cutting palm strips with my Swiss army knife. You can look here and here for some examples - you can choose to fold them so that the points go inwards, outwards or lie flat and you can also choose to make them so that they look more like shooting stars. I have once seen pictures of very upmarket ones in a Martha Stewart book but on ethical grounds I don't think I'll be linking to those. A friend who was really into patchwork and quilting also made some out of material using quite a bit of starch - and the strips took some preparation because both sides of the material need to be seen.
Anyway making stars is good for the soul, it helps you relax and think and give you something beautiful either for yourself or someone else as well. So what are you waiting for? Follow the instructions here, here or here. If I can make them in a hotel room in Berlin I'm sure you can give them a go.

Christmas reading on the train

By the time this gets posted we shall be on the train to BErlin and I shall be dipping in and out of this wonderful Virago Book of Christmas. It's an anthology of women's writing about Christmas put together by writer Michelle Lovric. My copy was given to me by a friend some years ago but I didn't read it at the time and have just started perusing it properly this year.
Last night I read a wonderful extract of a letter by Rosa Luxemburg to Sonja Liebknecht full of how she was keeping her spirits up despite being in prison. It reminded me how much I enjoy reading Luxemburg, maybe I'll be able to find more of her letters while in Berlin.

Réforme's Christmas stories

Last year Réforme had a competition for Christmas stories and this year you can read the winning story online even if you aren't a subscriber to Réforme.
The winning entry written Nativité by Annie Timbeau-Rapin who works with travellers was read as part of our Christmas festival service in Ferney this morning - the first time I've heard the words "emmerder" and "putain" spoken out loud in church - other of course than muttered by people talking about my sermons!
You can read many of the other stories written for Christmas here. A translation project for me I suppose.

Peace labyrinth for Christmas summer solstice

As the northern hemisphere heads for the winter solstice this means it's mid-summer in the south.
Steve Taylor reports that in Christchurch, New Zealand on Latimer Square a peace labyrinth has been installed for Christmas. You can find more pictures here and here.
I love the idea of distributing driftwood stick people in the city and then inviting people to bring them to the driftwood stable in the straw labyrinth.
We have a good friend who is moving to Christchurch New Zealand in January, she was saying that she would miss celebrating Christmas in wintertime. Perhaps though she will have another summer solstice labyrinth to look forwards to next December as well.
I particularly like the quote from Queen Lucy which ends the quote from the peace labyrinth website.

Walk the labyrinth and find moments of peace at Christmas. If you have found one of our driftwood people, bring along with you to the labyrinth.
This Christmas, Side Door Arts Trust, under conceptual artists Pete & Joyce Majendie and with the support of various churches, will be constructing a large scale interactive straw bale labyrinth (750 bales) on the theme of peace, based on the labyrinth designed for St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
Within the labyrinth there will be a number of art installations with different themes: world peace, peace in the community, peace in the family, peace with God, personal peace etc.
Thousands of driftwood people will be dispersed around the city inviting those who find them to the labyrinth, where they may leave the driftwood person amongst the ever-growing crowd of their peers gathered around a small stable in the centre of the labyrinth with a light inside (‘”Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.” – C.S. Lewis)

Advent conspiracy and noel no hell

Gilles Boucomont an ERF minister in Paris was behind the video clip Noël No Hell and is quoted as saying this about his expectations of the project:
Juste un peu de vérité et d’espérance en temps de crise et de mensonge... Entre le Père Noël et la "fête des lumières", entre la course aux courses et la sur-consommation, nous tentons de glisser le message de la pauvreté de l’Enfant-Roi (le vrai, lui) né dans l’étable de Bethléem.
(Just a bit of truth and hope at this time of crisis and lies ... between father Christmas and the different "light festivals", between racing to shop and over consumption, we're trying to slip in the message of the poverty of the infant king (the true one) born in the stable in Bethlehem.)
You can read an interview with him here and read the words to the songs on a Roman Catholic blog here and visit the clip's facebook page here and also read an article in Réforme here.

Si votre ordinateur peine, allez sur cette page

Clip Noël No Hell

envoyé par NoShame

Thanks to Maggi Dawn I've also been watching a video by Advent Conspiracy
who say this on their site:
The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists.
And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?
What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?

I particularly like their focus on water, but the video messes up the frames on my blog so you'll just have to watch it here. Their slogan is "give presence".