Rivertown United Reformed Church

Deeside Pastorate Minister’s Letter December 2008 / January 2009

Do you have “sacred spaces”? Moments you look forward to every year, times you almost feel you cannot do without? For me it has to be Christmas Dinner. (I have to be careful what I say next - this feeling could be deemed “sexist”!). No – what I mean is, that hour or two of supreme relaxation (and yes, we do try to make sure it’s that for ALL of us!) when, as a couple, a family, we can sit down together and say “this time is ours”. Quality time which, hopefully, will leave us all feeling more loved, more appreciated, more an essential part of the family.

People have an increasingly multicultural attitude to food these days We have for some years taken to Christmas Day salmon, easy and quick to cook. But what will the food air miles be for our Christmas celebrations? Much of the traditional fare hails from far afield across the ocean. Food that, despite all the packing and preservation, is never quite as fresh as it was when first taken from the earth, the bush, the tree. Ever tasted an apple fresh off the tree? I did, at a youth weekend in Kent – fantastic! Never knew apples could really taste like that! I wonder what a fresh mango, orange, tastes like? And what about all those nuts?

In November I wrote about “protective layers”. We thank God for the natural protective layers that protect and preserve so much of our food, allowing it to be transported thousands of miles to our tables. And yes, it is progress that allows this. But not the kind of progress that means we take for granted the people and places of origin – the growers, farmers, workers, who often face huge risks to their health in the process. As we read, hear, see the murderous tragedy unfolding in the Democratic (?) Republic of Congo, may our hearts be drawn to contribute to the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal. At the same time there is a Housing Crisis in Flintshire, with 5000 already on the waiting list, and more coming as the Credit Crunch bites. People without protection. Alongside them are so many with so much – homes of great beauty but often highly guarded, sometimes by walls, fences and even attitudes that make it clear outsiders aren’t welcome. Is it that the more we have, the mire we want, and the less we want to give away? As if we become almost dependent on possessions? Does that make us more vulnerable

When Jesus met Nicodemus late one night, he told him that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life…….God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that world might be saved.” (John ch 3 vv 16,17). The word “saved” means “preserved”. Are you and I the people God meant us to be? God isn’t offering us a protective layer – a hard exterior coating to preserve all that lies under our skin as fresh and new as it was at our birth. Instead God offers us something much greater – something that comes fresh, moment by moment, from the very heart of God. As did the vulnerable baby of Bethlehem. That love, that Spirit, that new life that Nicodemus was looking for. Something that so many in this world have never “tasted” – but which everyone in this world is looking for. So that we will not turn away, in fear, from those people, issues, situations, where life is always wintry and harsh - but “open up”, in love and care. Seeing God’s priorities as ours. May we find sacred spaces, at Christmas and throughout 2009, as we walk together, hand in hand with our newborn, risen Lord. A joyful Christmas and a fulfilling New Year to you all!

Ruth, Colin and of course Toby dog (all well preserved!)