Issue 8073

THE

INQUIRER £1 | Issue 8073 | 9 & 23 December 2023

Inside this issue…

Send-a-child has a great year Always reach towards hope End the carnage of war

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The voice of British and Irish Unitarians and Free Christians

Shepherds, angels and kings

Arek Malecki asks why Unitarians reach for traditions around Christmas

This Christmas, may we…

Glimpse the promise of the future, as did Mary Know our duty, and resist judgement, as did Joseph Honour new life and praise new creation, as did the shepherds and angels May we seek wisdom beyond our tradition as did the Magi Offer hospitality as did the Innkeeper And in so doing, may we all discover the sacred among us, as did all those present at the first nativity And so may the grace, inspiration and mercy of Christmas be yours this year and throughout the year Amen Francis Elliot-Wright

From Worship Words, a Unitarian resource: https://worshipwords.unitarian.org.uk Page 2 | Issue 8073 – 9 & 23 December 2023

Arek Malecki asks why so many Unitarians are traditionalists when it comes to the Nativity

Embrace the Christmas paradox Recently a friend told me that she remembers the first Unitarian service she attended. That service was led by me. Apparently, I concluded my sermon asking, ‘So were humans created by God, or was God created by humans? The answer is, “yes”.’ I have little memory of this service, let alone the sermon. But if I did say those words, I would like to stand by them. For this embrace of contradictions was exactly what made my friend come back the following week.

The Christmas story, veiled in Written during a tumultuous period familiar narratives, offers a gentle in the Polish history, the carol “There is no light invitation to embrace paradox. uplifted the spirits of Poles who In our rational denomination, found themselves living through without darkness; no navigating paradoxes isn’t always a three waves of partition of their joy without sorrow; straightforward task. Our inquiring country among three neighbouring minds can feel unsettled when empires. This led to Poland no North without presented with two opposing completely disappearing from maps South, no time without statements – as if both were true. for 123 years – until 11 November And I am guilty of that too! I 1918. eternity; no mind frequently need to remind myself without heart.” that what may appear contradictory A symbol of identity between two components, does The song became a symbol of not automatically imply that one national identity and an unofficial excludes the other. Instead, the two national anthem. (Interestingly, its can complement – creating a fuller picture of the greater tune, according to some historical sources, is a coronation truth. Moreover, often the very existence of one depends polonaise of Polish monarchs from the 16th century.) on the other. There is no light without darkness; no joy As well as being a song of paradoxes, it is also an anthem without sorrow; no North without South, no time without of counterintuitive hope. A realisation that despite eternity; no mind without heart. hardships, human lives are blessed, and the God’s kin(g) dom is truly among and within us. In particular, the ‘Might is crumbling, the Lord of Heavens lies naked.’ sheer audacity of one of the verses in the Polish version This is the premise of one of the greatest Polish Christmas resonates with me (here, verse 3). Originally, it read in Carols, titled ‘Bóg się rodzi’ – which translates as ‘God Polish: ‘What have you, O Heavens, better than us? God is Being Born’. (See it on page 9.) This carol focuses on abandoned your blissfulness!’ I love the boldness of this the very moment of Jesus’ birth, which captured the verse. I imagine common folks, oppressed, living in difficult imagination of its writer – Franciszek Karpiński (1741circumstances, many separated from their families, who 1825). His original lyrics encapsulate the paradoxes of found themselves living under different empires, defiantly divine reality. ‘God is being born. Might is crumbling, the shaking fists at the sky and yelling with audacious hope Lord of Heavens lies naked. Fire’s frozen, brightness is and confidence: ‘Losers, you’ve nothing better up there, darkened, the limitless has boundaries.’ for God is here now.’ Their declaration doesn’t stem from Continued on page 6 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 3

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End the barbarism Active compassion can bring peace

‘Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.’ (Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:1: 22a) ‘Whoever saves one life saves all of mankind.’ (The Qur’an) At this season of universal goodwill, let us hold in our loving thoughts the suffering people of Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan and everywhere around the world that innocent lives are sacrificed in tragic, futile wars.

In Gaza and Ukraine, thousands of lives are lost, life-changing injuries inflicted on innocent civilians, incalculable environmental and economic devastation is wrought.

Is it not a cause for shame that UK and US taxpayers are helping finance and enable the barbarism – the vastly increased deadliness of weapons, those pre-emptive onslaughts of ‘shock and awe’ on Muslim lands, the deployment of poison gas, white phosphorous, depleted uranium and fiendishly cruel cluster bombs which blind, maim and kill children long after the wars have ended? In the words of the Roman historian Tacitus: ‘They make a desert and they call it peace’.

We see the legacy of hatred, bitterness and resentment caused by crusading wars. We witness the desperate plight of Palestinians suffering the effects of a half-century of occupation in the West Bank and, now, spread to Gaza hospitals, clinics, schools, mosques, churches. Even Red Crescent and UN refuges, places of sanctuary, are bombed without mercy.

We cannot but share the dejected mood of the New England Unitarian poet Henry Longfellow as he heard the Christmas bells during the fratricidal American Civil War in which his son fought in the Union forces.

And in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on Earth’, I said.

‘For hate is strong And mocks the song: Goodwill to all and peace on Earth!’

We hope and pray that, in the true spirit of Christmas, hatred and violence can be overcome and that we may repent of our involvement in the sufferings of the innocent through the policies of our politicians and the machinations of armaments merchants of death, whose trade is, insanely, subsidised by taxpayers.

For the sake of our children and grandchildren, our long term survival on this fragile planet, and in the name of our common humanity, there must be a better way.

To those who wage evil and devastating wars, we should quote those words addressed to Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol: Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than this poor man’s child…

The moral of A Christmas Carol is a message of benevolence to fellow men and women of every class, race and creed. It has arguably done more good than any other work of imaginative literature in history. Let each of us follow that better path of active compassion, humanity and empathy and help in any way we can to bring about a more harmonious and peaceful world.

Feargus O’Connor

Page 4 | Issue 8073 – 9 & 23 December 2023

Sending children to Hucklow still makes a difference writes Sarah Benfield

‘I loved everything’

Shown above: SACH participants greet a friendly goat. Photo provided by SACH

‘I have to say, I loved everything.’ Just one quote from the feedback received from the young people who have visited the Nightingale Centre at Great Hucklow this year, thanks to the generosity of the supporters of the Send a Child to Hucklow Fund, our Unitarian charity. This year has been a very busy one. Christine Hayhurst, our very hardworking and efficient secretary has been kept particularly busy, liaising with leaders from 13 schools and five youth organisations to ensure that almost 400 children could benefit from a stay at Great Hucklow.

The staff at the centre have shown their commitment to the children having a good time, and we are indebted to Andrews of Tideswell Coaches for their continued service and support in transporting the groups from all over England. Twenty groups, in total, enjoyed a stay at the centre, with trips out to local attractions.

The children have challenging home circumstances, some due to financial hardship. Some are known to Children’s Services and some have witnessed domestic abuse, or are young carers. Spending time with their school friends or members of community groups in relaxed, comfortable surroundings enables them to relax and be children, giving them a break from everyday worries.

We have now been able to provide wet weather clothes and wellingtons for children to use during their stay.

Thanks to donations given during the annual Unitarian General Assembly Meetings, we have been able to provide good-quality board games for the children to use at the centre. The Hucklow Teddies, provided by the congregation and visitors to Unitarian Old Chapel, Great Hucklow, continue to be very popular.

The weather this year has proved challenging. One group enjoyed the snow, but Andrews Coaches had to forge a track with a snow plough attached to the coach in order to get the children home! Another group spent a day at Eyam and had to take the holiday later in the year due to a freak Tornado which hit the centre! Then the heatwave gave challenges to another group, who fortunately were able to benefit from swimming at the outdoor pool at Hathersage.

Financially we had a record year of donations totalling £93,740, thanks to generous donations and grants.

The holidays cost £123,000 to provide, so the need for donations continues so we can continue to provide the much-needed holidays. Our target for 2024 is £75,000.

I would like to share some of the feedback from the children, the leaders and a parent, which help to demonstrate the importance of the holidays.

From children: ‘The best bit was nobody shouting.’

‘I liked having my own bed. It was a big bed and I made it tidy everyday but Mrs H had to help me.’

‘I loved playing in the thick snow. It’s not what I’m used to.

The staff was also very nice and welcoming to everyone, children and staff.’

From a leader: ‘Your dedication to help, organise and improve our experience despite the weather was incredible – we could not have asked for more. Special thanks to the chef for helping to get my car out of the snow!’

From a parent governor: ‘(One boy) mastered skills we had been working on for a while. It was fantastic seeing the positive changes in him, and I fully thank the Hucklow experience for giving him the confidence to master these, as well as the trip having a big impact on social development skills.’

There are lots of ways to raise money and help us reach our target. Perhaps having a designated day on which retiring collections in your congregation are donated to SACH, or having a special service in support of SACH. We are working on the plans for groups to attend in 2024 and I hope that we can count on your donations and support to enable disadvantaged children to enjoy much needed breaks in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside.

Sarah Benfield is chair of the board of Send a Child to Hucklow. www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 5

Christmas paradox

“It is a story of the humbled divinity and exalted humanity, and of the earth becoming heaven-like.”

Continued from page 3 >

tangible improvement of their lived reality, but from the realisation of the divinity of their collective humanity, and from the belief that the kin(g)dom is at hand. On earth as it is in heaven, indeed.

Many Unitarians I know choose to ‘suspend’ their scepticism for the festive period – and rightly so. The Unitarian congregations I’ve interacted with tend to opt for carols with traditional lyrics, steering away from the softened, the more ‘rational’ versions found in Hymns for Living – our green hymnal. The motivations for embracing more traditional lyrics, speaking of miracles, virgin birth, and God incarnate, vary. Some may do it simply for the pleasure of familiarity. But I’d like to think that many of us turn to them out of a realisation of the immense value of metaphor and paradox. This appreciation allows us to immerse ourselves in the Christmas story fully – including submerging our heads in it.

Without paradox, religion is watered down Carl Gustav Jung taught that, oddly enough, the paradox is one of our most valuable spiritual possessions, while uniformity of meaning is a sign of weakness. Hence a religion becomes inwardly impoverished when it loses or waters down its paradoxes; but their multiplication enriches because only the paradox comes anywhere near to comprehending the fullness of life. Non-ambiguity and non-contradiction are one-sided and thus unsuited to express the incomprehensible.

The desire to resolve all paradoxes does eventually lead to further fracturing and tribalism. It induces us with the promise of a simpler world that is more black-and-white.

Where one position must be wrong, if the other were to be true. The inability to hold paradoxes without losing one’s ability to function, is without a doubt, one of the causes of the social divisions we see today. Contradictions and ambiguities are uncomfortable. To resolve this discomfort the temptation is to make them go away to get rid of the paradox. Unitarianism offers many qualities – acceptance, encouragement and growth. But I can’t remember ever being promised comfort here.

Brené Brown – American researcher and writer – reflects: ‘Builders of greatness are comfortable with paradox.’

‘They don’t oppress themselves with ‘the tyranny of the or’ and instead liberate themselves with ‘the genius of the Page 6 | Issue 8073 – 9 & 23 December 2023

and’. Likewise, author and physician Gabor Maté, teaches: ‘The only way to deal with this life meaningfully is to find one’s passion, and the only way to find one’s passion is to surrender to the paradoxes and ambiguities that are embedded in all of our endeavours.’ The Christmas story offers a great opportunity to practice this!

A celebration of birth amidst discord The religious message of Christmas is full of paradoxes. It is a story of the humbled divinity and exalted humanity, and of the earth becoming heaven-like. It is a celebration of birth, of the Prince of Peace, unfolding in a world of conflict and discord. It is a story of a God who came to the poorest shepherds, and of a destitute human to whom kings came bowing. A complex narrative of simplicity, and a humble story sung to a royal coronation melody.

Regardless of what you believe or don’t believe to be literally true in this story, allow yourself to be carried away by the myths and magic of Christmas, which does not require abandoning of rational belief. Learning to hold two seemingly contradicting statements is indeed a challenging task. But bringing two opposing (not hostile!) ideas into a dialogue (not debate!), and living contently with paradoxes that do not beg to be resolved, enrich life. It is one of the things that can bring us closer to comprehending the fulness of life, without submitting ourselves to ‘the tyranny of the or’.

This Christmas let us practice holding onto paradoxes. We will not fall apart.

Sources mentioned: Stein, M (ed.) (1999). Jung on Christianity. Princeton University Press Brown, B. (2021) The Atlas of the Heart. Mapping Meaningful Connections and the Language of Human Experience. (2021). New York: Random House

Arek Malecki The Rev Arek Malecki is minister with Leicester Unitarians.

Love is born, and might is shaken, Precious gift in manger hidden.

Fire is frozen, splendour darkened, Tender nature God has taken.

Finite, yet the God of Spaces!

Mortal, yet the God of Ages!

Word has blended with Creation, and Come to earth for every nation.

Lowly shepherd kneeling low. A King in awe his crown removing.

Pompous gifts of gold and myrrh, with Hay and dirt are now as nothing.

Love, the heart of God delighting; Rank and status disregarding; the Word has blended with Creation, and Come to earth for every nation.

Up in heaven, not so happy?

God abandoned your perfection!

Here on earth, as in heaven

Peace and kinship, warm affection.

Here with us in joy and sorrow.

Share God’s vision for tomorrow!

Word has blended with Creation, and Come to earth for every nation.

Spark of Goddess, Breath of Spirit Human souls may now inherit.

Diff’ring words of creeds proclaiming Caring hearts and deeds of merit.

Justice rolling like a river Human work shall peace deliver.

Word has blended with Creation, and Come to earth for every nation.

Words: the Rev Arek Malecki and the Rev Marianna Michell Traditional Polish Christmas Carol, original lyrics Franciszek Karpiński (1741-1825) Traditional tune

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 7

Kate Brady McKenna’s hopes for a blessed Christmas

A time of hope, even without optimism If there’s one thing the Christmas story can talk to us about, it’s the power of hoping. Not the power of optimism, but the power of hoping.

Because hope and optimism aren’t the same thing, although we sometimes use them in that way. A friend tells of a friend, dealing with a serious illness, who was told by his consultant that he should approach the illness with hope, but not with optimism.

That is terribly poignant; but also a each other. One of those Christgood way of marking the difference mases where the little boy in A between the two. We don’t have to Christmas Carol gets 10 shillings “But did Mary and give up on hope just because there’s for fetching a turkey for Scrooge. little cause for optimism. Neither do Where families are reconciled.

Joseph have hope? They we have to be optimistic in order to Where throughout the world there must have. Against all hang on to hope. is peace whilst the people of strife – Do I hope this Christmas will be that’s us – hush their noise to hear the odds, they must peaceful and calm and the roast the angels sing. have had hope, as well potatoes will be perfect and there Are we optimistic? I think it’s will be no family tensions whatsobetter if we’re not. Because those as faith.” ever and I will get all the presents I things can happen. Some of them want? Absolutely. Of course I do. have happened. But more often Fervently. Am I optimistic that that they don’t. Family tensions increase will happen? No. I am hopeful, and I over Christmas, there is more doam also a realist. mestic violence and more fighting, far more depression Does that mean I shouldn’t hope for those things? No. and loneliness and despair. Am I optimistic that this year Because if I continue to hope, despite the unlikelihood of the police and the Samaritans will report that everyone it happening, there’s a chance I’ll work for it. I may not was fine? No. Should I hope for that? Yes, unrealistic give up and give in to despondency, that I won’t unconthough it might be, I think I probably should. sciously make it impossible.

I don’t know if you can make yourself hope for someWe all hope, I imagine, that Christmas will bring happiness thing. But you can squash your hopes. You can tell yourand prosperity and joy to everyone. We hope for one of self so often that they’re pointless that you just give up, those Christmases where strangers greet each other on and let your lack of optimism win. I also know that you the street, where no one is alone who doesn’t want to can not squash them. I can choose to keep hoping despite be – and no one is cold or hungry or homeless or ill. One not being optimistic. of those Christmases where everyone loves a bit harder What’s the point of hoping for a peaceful Christmas and and more strongly and where we are all as generous as for well-fed children? Surely it doesn’t do anything. It’s we’d like to be and where – just for one short day – there just a hope. It has about as much chance of having an are no children or adults being neglected, no family rows, effect as prayer. In fact, hopes can lead to prayers, and no violence in the streets. A Christmas like the famous those of us who don’t believe in a God who intervenes Christmas of 1914 when soldiers ceased fire and greeted probably know that does precisely no good.

Page 8 | Issue 8073 – 9 & 23 December 2023

“I don’t know if you can make yourself hope for something. But you can squash your hopes. You can tell yourself so often that they’re pointless that you just give up, and let your lack of optimism win.”

Shown left: Photo by enelene from Pixabay

I say all this as someone who experiences depression. And those of you who share that will know that even hope sometimes seems like a distant dream. Yet even when the depression is biting harder than normal, there’s hope that it will fade.

There’s a concept of prayer which says, ‘Prayer doesn’t change things. Prayer changes people, and people change things.’

The same is true for hope. If you don’t have any hope, you’re unlikely to do much. Take foodbanks. Even at Christmas – perhaps especially at Christmas – there are too many families without enough to eat.

The people who run foodbanks, the people who set them up, the people who volunteer their time, the people who donate food: are they optimistic about getting rid of hunger and poverty? Probably not. Are they hopeful that what they do is a step towards it? Almost certainly. Can they do what they do without optimism? Yes. Could they do it without hope? Almost certainly not.

The word ‘despair’ comes from a root meaning ‘without hope’. Desperation is what sends us to our beds for days on end. It’s what makes us give up. Desperadoes, in the films, were the ones with so little hope it didn’t matter what they did. Hope keeps us upright. It keeps us going.

It keeps us trying and striving and praying and doing.

Without it, we give up. Without optimism we can carry on.

Without hope, we won’t.

As Unitarians we have, probably, a different view of the Christmas story than many others do. But you don’t have to believe a story to believe in that story.

Take those early parts – Mary is heavily pregnant, probably in some disgrace, probably extremely young, certainly terribly scared, certainly tired and ill. And she and Joseph are about to set off on an awful journey. Young, terrified, away from home, almost certainly not believed, not knowing where they’re going to stay, not knowing when the baby will be born but knowing it probably won’t wait ‘til they’re home. And tired. Tired and hungry.

Can they possibly have been optimistic? I can’t see it.

Mary could have died. Joseph could have died. Surviving, Mary could have had to give birth outside, rather than in

the stable (it probably wasn’t a stable, historians say, but the corner of a room in the home of distant family, but the stable is so embedded in our consciousness that it seems fair to keep it).

Mary and Joseph would have been well aware of the risks.

But did they have hope? They must have. Against all the odds, they must have had hope, as well as faith. The story tells us Mary and Joseph knew her child was the son of God. That must have stood for something. The whole of that awful journey, they must have had some hope to hang on to. Hope that they would find shelter. That they would find food. That Mary’s young body would cope with childbirth. That Joseph – almost certainly inexperienced in midwifery – would be able to do what was needed. That robbers, disease, or wild animals would not see them or the baby off. That they would be able to fulfil God’s plan for them.

Without that hope, I don’t think the story could have happened.

But hope – and faith – made it possible. Hope for the practical things, against all the odds. Hope that they were right about God’s plans. That God would see a way for the plans to be fulfilled.

Do I hope that I can fulfil whatever God’s will for me is?

Yes. Am I optimistic about that? Not always. Hardly ever.

Do I need to be optimistic to work for it? Nope. Do I need to hope in order to work for it? Yes. Yes, I do.

So, think about hope. Think about your daily hopes, your little hopes, your hopes which may not seem important.

Like my hope for presents, and perfect roast potatoes.

But also your bigger hopes. Your hopes for your community, your world. Think, perhaps, about what you can keep hoping for when you’re no longer optimistic. And think about what just hoping can bring about.

And, maybe, act on your hopes, rather than your optimism. Act as if something might happen, and it might, even if that’s only a tiny little bit.

Let’s hope beyond all reason, and let’s act on our hopes.

The Rev Kate Brady McKenna is minister with Bury Unitarians. www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 9

Our world is similar to the one into which Jesus was born, writes Cliff Reed

Called to walk in Jesus’ way Jesus wasn’t born into a historical or geographical vacuum. He was born at a particular time, at a particular place, and we might imagine that the New Testament would provide us with this information in a clear and unequivocal way. But it doesn’t. In fact only two of the gospels, Matthew and Luke, say anything about the events leading up to the birth of Jesus or about his Nativity and these don’t agree on the details. Neither Mark’s gospel – the earliest – nor John’s – the latest – say anything at all about the birth of Jesus.

And nor does Paul mention it – how to be human, a revelation of even though his letters are the God’s saving activity in the world.

“It reflects what we earliest documents in the New And it was the sense that the comTestament. For the earliest Chrising of Jesus was such a special, feel to be a spiritual tians the real starting point of the indeed world-changing, event that truth: that in the story of Jesus is his baptism in the led to the increasing elaboration river Jordan by John the Baptist, of the Nativity stories. In a pagan birth of Jesus a man which effectively is where Mark’s world where humanity and divinity entered the world with and John’s gospels begin. The were often confused and heroes, Nativity was irrelevant for them kings and emperors were turned a unique perception of because it was at his baptism that into gods, it must have seemed only the Divine.”

Jesus became – or was adopted as natural to attach wonderful stories – God’s ‘beloved Son’ (Mark 1:11) to Jesus, stories which became an or ‘God’s Chosen One’.(John 1:34) elaborate mythology in themselves.

For Matthew and Luke the reason And this was especially true of the for writing their Nativity accounts was to link the birth Nativity. of Jesus the ‘promised Messiah’, as they believed him to If, for example, you should wonder where we get the idea be, with Messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Bible and to that the Wise Men were kings – with names and kingdoms surround it with suitably marvellous and symbolic events, – or that there were an ox and an ass by the manger, you although they cite different ones. There are no shepherds will not find it in the New Testament. These and a bewilor angel hosts in Matthew, there is no star, no Wise Men dering variety of traditions and stories about the events with mysterious gifts in Luke. And those are not the only preceding the birth of Jesus, about the birth of Jesus itdifferences. The point was to establish the status of Jesus self, about the Holy Family’s ‘flight into Egypt’, and about from the start by means of the supposed fulfilment of the infancy of Jesus, were told and created in the early prophecies, of signs and wonders.

Christian centuries, presumably because people yearned Our familiar story of the Nativity and the events leading for something more than the brief biblical accounts. Some up to it is a merger of two distinct traditions which were have found their way into Christmas carols and stories and current by the late 1st century, but we happily ignore the quite a few appeared in works of art at least as late as the contradictions and embrace it all because of its charm Renaissance, but most have been largely forgotten. It is and because it reflects what we feel to be a spiritual truth: doubtful whether they really tell us anything about what that in the birth of Jesus a man entered the world with actually happened. a unique perception of the Divine, a new message about One survival, though, gives us an alternative Nativity story Page 10 | Issue 8073 – 9 & 23 December 2023

“It was for the hope of a better world that Jesus was born, and it is for the hope of a better world that we prepare to celebrate his coming.”

that is believed by a very great number of people today.

That is the story found in the Qur’an (Sura 19, ‘Mary’).

Dating from the 7th century, it reflects Christian beliefs and traditions current in Arabia and with which the Prophet Muhammad would have been familiar.

Jesus is a prophet in Islam Islam, of course, recognises Jesus as the most important prophet other than Muhammad himself. In its account of the Annunciation, the Qur’an has Allah’s heavenly messenger declare of Jesus, ‘“He shall be a sign to mankind,” says the Lord, “and a blessing from Ourself”.’ And how does a very distinctive Nativity story turn up in the Qur’an? Well, one likely explanation lies in all those early Christian documents, which included an Arabic account of the birth and infancy of Jesus. But Christianity’s divisive doctrinal disputes, particularly about the person and work of Christ, were, in the 7th century, to be its downfall in the face of Islam’s simple message and unitarian theology.

As the Qur’an puts it, ‘Yet the Sects are divided concerning Jesus’ (Sura 19:37).

But what has all this to do with the world into which Jesus was born? Do the Nativity accounts say anything about that, anything to locate it in a recognisably historical context? And does it matter? It matters because Jesus was a real human being, not some quasi-divine fantasy superhero. He lived a real human life and taught how our human life might better reflect the divine ideal of love. If all we had about him were stories of ‘miracles’ then he would be irrelevant to us. Reputed ‘wonderworkers’ were two-apenny in the ancient world, and are not unknown today!

But when it comes to the Nativity stories, canonical and non-canonical, it is certainly possible to find very real echoes of human life. The story of a teenage girl who finds herself pregnant with no very credible excuse, but whose fiancé finally responds with love and generosity of spirit in the face of family and societal disapproval, is one we can relate to. So too are the incidents relating to homelessness, to flight from murderous persecution, to exile in a foreign land. They reflect real human experiences of

suffering all too well. And this was something that greatly concerned Jesus.

But what about the historical context? What was the world that Jesus was born into? Matthew and Luke both attempt to give their Nativity story some sort of grounding in the contemporary world. For Matthew this means locating the events ‘during the reign of Herod’ (2:1), and Herod is someone who is known from sources outside the New Testament. He really was a cunning and ruthless man very much in keeping with his portrayal in Matthew’s gospel. He had been king of Judaea since 37BC, a client ruler appointed by the Romans. Once in power, Herod set about eliminating any surviving competition. He had his predecessor, Aristobulus II – last of the Hasmonean dynasty – beheaded, along with his son. Herod was a friend and close collaborator with Rome. Even before becoming king of Judaea, Herod had been appointed tetrarch of Galilee (in 41BC) by Mark Antony.

Herod was unlamented Herod was a Roman citizen and he once presided at the Olympic Games. He was to leave his mark on the land, building fortresses, ports and palaces but his great project was building a new Temple in Jerusalem – although this didn’t win him many friends among the Jewish population, who regarded him as a foreigner and resented his autocratic rule. He died, unlamented, in 4BC. He left his kingdom to his three sons, Archelaus, Antipas and Philip, although it took a Roman army and 2000 crucifixions to enforce their rule on a rebellious populace.

Archelaus was allotted Judaea itself, the heart of the kingdom, which included Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He is named in Matthew as the king ruling there when Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned from Egypt, although they went to Galilee to avoid him. Galilee was ruled by his brother Antipas. Archelaus was removed from office by the Romans in AD6, although Antipas lasted rather longer. He was to play a further part in the stories of both John the Baptist and of Jesus before the Romans removed him from office too in AD39.

Continued on page 12 >

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 11

Our world is similar to Jesus’ Continued from page 11 >

Luke, both in his gospel and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles, is at greater pains than Matthew to locate the story of Jesus and the early Christian community in an historical context. He was writing for a Greek-speaking audience in the Roman Empire, although in writing about the Nativity he was dealing with events that had happened 70 or 80 years earlier. Nevertheless, he does try to put the birth of Jesus in a Roman context. That is to say, during the reign of the Emperor Augustus and ‘when Quirinius was governor of Syria’ (2:2). Quirinius was appointed in AD6, when Judaea lost what was left of its independence and became a Roman province. Herod, incidentally, is mentioned by Luke but only in connection with Zechariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist. He had in fact been dead 10 years when Quirinius became governor of Syria.

The tightening grip of Rome provides the backdrop to the birth of Jesus, to his life and, of course, his death.

And, paradoxically perhaps, it was Rome’s Empire, with its transport links, its communications system and its order – the Pax Romana – that was to facilitate the spread of Christianity. But in the world of Caesar Augustus the arrival of this baby boy probably had little impact at the time, beyond his own family. We may have those stories in Matthew and Luke to enjoy at this time of year, but it

is what Jesus grew up to do and to say that really matters.

And the vision he set before people, of a new and universal human community that transcends the divisions of gender, nation, race, class and status, with the message of love at its heart, was revolutionary. It was revolutionary when he taught it in Galilee. It was revolutionary when Paul taught it in the cities of Asia Minor and Greece and in the great city of Rome itself. It was revolutionary as those early Christian communities taught it across an Empire of slavery, brutality and rigid social hierarchy. And it remains revolutionary today.

We live in a world that, on the face of it, is very different to that which Jesus was born into, but in so many ways it is just the same. There is still cruelty and unkindness, there is still violence, brutality and war, not least in the troubled land where he was born. And these, wherever they exist, have their origin in human hearts imprisoned by hatred, selfishness and greed – as they always did.

But there is a way out, a better way, the way that Jesus walked. We are called to walk it and to help others walk it too. It was for the hope of a better world that Jesus was born, and it is for the hope of a better world that we prepare to celebrate his coming.

Cliff Reed is minister emeritus with Ipswich Unitarians.

Please help the Send a Child to Hucklow Fund

It is 62 years since a letter sent to The Inquirer launched the Send a Child to Hucklow Fund to give disadvantaged children from towns and cities the chance to experience the green fields of Derbyshire. This year we had 20 groups come to the Nightingale Centre. All told, just under 400 children.

We have invited 16 groups for 2024, but we are reliant on your donations to keep going. Our fundraising target is £75,000 in the coming year.

It costs approximately £350 per child, including the costs of food, accommodation, outings and treats, and we hope to again provide holidays for up to 400 children.

Gifts will be gratefully received by the Donations Treasurer, Mrs Ruth Taylor, 1 Beech Close, Hanwood, Shrewsbury, SY5 8RA. Please note that the Fund can reclaim income tax paid by any individual (as long as s/he has paid sufficient income tax) if a Gift Aid donation form has been signed. As we are now a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (registration number 1189260), a new form will be needed even if you have previously signed a Gift Aid form. A copy of the form may be obtained via the website or from Mrs Taylor (donations_treasurer@ sendachildtohucklow.org.uk).

Giving with a Gift Aid donation form makes a gift of £20 worth £25 to the Fund. Gifts may now also be made online by going to our website: www.sendachildtohucklow.org.uk or by bank transfer (Sort Code 40-52-40; Account number 00060131). If you shop online, please use easyfundraising, naming ‘Send-a-Child’ as your beneficiary, see www.easyfundraising.org.uk, or use Give as you Live: www.giveasyoulive.com.

All gifts are used for the holidays, except gifts given in someone’s memory, which are put into a Capital Account with the interest used for holidays. Please remember the Fund in your will as legacies are much appreciated and provide valuable income.

Copies of the full 2022/23 Annual Report and Appeal 2024 may be obtained from the Secretary, Christine Hayhurst, 6 McAlmont Ridge, Godalming, GU7 2AR. Telephone 01483 419577, email: secretary@sendachildtohucklow.org.uk Page 12 | Issue 8073 – 9 & 23 December 2023

Unitarians pop up everywhere I have been a supporter of the Apostrophe Protection Society for some time. I get irritated when the apostrophe is inserted where it should not be, as in pea’s, bean’s and cabbage’s. There is an unfair claim that greengrocers are especially guilty of this error. Yet I once saw a sign on a solicitor’s window offering ‘no win, no fee’s’.

I resolved never to avail myself of their services. By contrast, a recent report tells how a retired schoolteacher campaigned successfully, along with residents of St. Mary’s Terrace in Twyford, Hampshire, to rescue the lost apostrophe from their street nameplate. When it was renewed by local council workers, the new one was minus the apostrophe. The matter was earnestly discussed at an Apostrophe Society council meeting. Reference was made to novelist Jane Austen, buried in nearby Winchester cathedral, who was known to be inconsistent in her use of punctuation. One town councillor had made the claim that while clear street names are vital for postal services, ‘punctuation can make that difficult, particularly with modern computer systems.’ Puzzling. I thought computers were moving us towards artificial intelligence.

In the end, St. Mary’s Terrace got its apostrophe back as well as its full stop after the St. *** Do any of our congregations have this kind of problem?

Our only saint, St. Mark’s Church, Edinburgh, always has the apostrophe. So does Queen’s Road Church, Urmston, Manchester. The town of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk doesn’t, nor does Friars Street, home of our meeting house in Ipswich. Belfast’s All Souls’ Presbyterian Church rightly includes one, after ‘Souls’. All souls are indeed included there. *** Regarding corrections, I am grateful to eagle-eyed friend Richard Banyard who, within minutes of receiving a November Inquirer, was at his computer winging in a brisk word. I had mentioned the occasion that renowned cricketer Garry Sobers had caused a batting sensation.

Exposing my ignorance, I said that this was in a Test Match. ‘Not so’, says Richard. ‘Pedant that I continue to be in my dotage, I have to point out that Sir Garry was playing for Nottinghamshire in a County Championship match versus Glamorgan at Swansea when he hit Malcolm Nash for six sixes in one over. It was not a Test Match.’ So, I am rumbled as a non-sporting person. Did anyone else spot this? *** Buying a poinsettia or a cyclamen for Christmas? I was surprised to learn that the world of tropical plants is steeped in controversy regarding slave trading. Locating and importing plants, even herbs and spices, has been enough to get the world-famous botanical research centre

FUNNY OLD WORLD

By John Midgley

at Kew Gardens into difficulties. When the managers decided to re-label many of their specimens, indicating their background in slavery and colonialism, there were cries of ‘Woke!’ from the Daily Mail and ‘politicking’ from some MPs. ‘They would be better off spending the rest of their days in a potting shed.’ ‘This is typically bourgeois liberal arrogance which is ill-fitting of people that get public funding.’ Having visited the Museum of Slavery, a Liverpool-based women’s group called MAMA (Migrant Artists’ Mutual Aid) has taken up the cause. They visited Kew, talked to people there and have produced songs which they intend to perform in fundraising choir concerts. Look closely at the group and you might recognise the name Anstey Gilley. A skilled musician and composer, she is the daughter of former Inquirer editor, the late Keith Gilley. *** Correspondence in the Guardian recently has touched on the propriety of talking to strangers. In some places it is perfectly normal. In others, people pass by each other without a word. One reader recently sent me this. ‘Last week, my husband and I had to travel to Chester from Bridport to do our first bit of grandparenting care, while our son and daughter-in-law were working. The best bit of the journey was that we could stop at Gloucester Services. At a meeting to discuss our spiritual lives at the Bridport Unitarian chapel with our minister, John Harley, I had said that one part of my own spiritual life was to always talk to strangers; to take every opportunity to share a little bit of our lives. In the queue for the coffee, I noticed I was next to a nice couple, who had a bit of a worry about whether or not they could find cream for their scone. I reassured them that I was sure the cream would be available at the till. So, we started chatting and I explained that I came from Bridport. They said their minister had recently moved to Bridport. I wondered who it could be, immediately thinking it would be someone from the church of England. “John Harley,” they said.

John Harley! I had never thought that they could possibly be Unitarians as well! They were from Frenchay Chapel in Bristol. What a joyful meeting and what a coincidence.

And another wonderful example of the benefit of talking to strangers.’

Be careful, Unitarians can pop up anywhere. www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 13

A solstice meditation This is the time when the sun appears to be standing still. Sitting comfortably, bring your attention to your breathing. As you relax, drop into the stillness of your body, the stillness of the earth.

You may like to imagine yourself sitting beside a calm, clear lake, where the air is still and the water reflects the sky like a mirror. Rest in the peace of the eternal now...

Let your attention now rest in the sleeping earth, renewing herself in her winter rest as we renew ourselves each night through sleep, when darkness falls. Let darkness wrap around you like a blanket.

Imagine all the hibernating animals, sleeping soundly, snug in their burrows and dens. Sense the sleeping tree roots and feel your own roots, deep and resting in the quiet earth.

Sense the bulbs and seeds waiting for the wheel of the year to turn in the deep, dark soil. What seeds are you nourishing in the fertile winter dark?

Slowly let your attention begin to rise back into your own body, up into your heart space. Feel the calm, steady rhythm of your heartbeat.

Sense the light within you, the fire that is always there, warm and shining like the sun, soon to be reborn. Where do you feel the light glowing most strongly within you? What colour is it? Rest in the warm glow of your inner light...

When you are ready, slowly bring your attention back to your surroundings.

Blessed be The Rev Laura Dobson

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Love’s perfection In the beginning, after God created the planets and the stars, and everything that flies and crawls and grows upon the earth, God created angels to take care of things.

The angels were perfect in every way. They were always on time and did everything they were told without complaint. They were pure beauty from head to toe. In fact, they didn’t even have a head, or toes. The angels didn’t have physical form at all, because to have physical form, they would have taken up space – and that would have meant that, potentially, they could have gotten in the way. Which they never did. Even potentially.

The angels did good all the time, but they were not what you would call do-gooders. Doing good didn’t fulfill any need or insecurity; it was just what they did. They could be alone with their own selves for hours. However, they were never socially awkward and always the life of the party. The angels showed the giraffes where the good leaves were at the top of the trees. If an ant was having trouble lifting a crumb of bread, they would help patiently.

Then one day, God mentioned this new idea of Hers called love.

The angels understood right away and went about doing the business of love. They wrote perfect love letters and gave out hugs as tender as eyelashes and as firm as back rubs. They made food for the animals at their angelic soup kitchens and, even when they just had a couple of potatoes and an onion, the soup tasted like it came from a four-star restaurant in Paris.

So it came as a shock when, one day, God told them She was creating human beings. ‘Human beings’, the angels said, ‘who are they?’ They weren’t sure they liked the sound of this, and a chill scampered up their ethereal spines.

Well, God went ahead and made human beings, and it was everything the angels could possibly have feared – if only they knew how to fear. Human beings could mess up a candy expedition in a piñata factory. They were stubborn about the smallest nothings-at-all, and greedy about even less. You could

give them heaven on a roll, and they’d argue over the number of sesame seeds in the bun. The bodies of human beings were an embarrassing mix of unreliable organs. I mean, even cats pitied them.

Perfect though they were, the angels just had to ask. ‘Why, God, why? Why on earth would you create these … these things?’

God laughed. (The angels kinda hated when She did that.)

‘I’m sorry, guys,’ God told the angels. ‘I love you and all, but it just wasn’t enough. You see – these human beings – the thing about them is – their love is perfect.’

If you have never seen an angel, God’s pure light, becoming flabbergasted, I cannot possibly explain in words what it looks like. ‘Their love is perfect? Those lying, cheating, heartbroken, heartbreaking fools? Have you lost your mind, God?’ ‘I know they are deeply imperfect,’ She admitted, with a smile.

‘But that is what makes their love so perfect – in their hearts, you see, they know they are completely and utterly dependent on one another. So when, in their holy imperfection, they cling to one another – when they hold up that baby, after all that pain, and grateful tears fill their eyes, or they put their arms helplessly around a tree someone else is trying to chop down, or they break all their promises and then come crying in the night to the home of those they’ve wronged for a blessing only grace can deliver – in those moments their love reaches a degree of perfection that you, my dear angels, can never possibly know.’

The angels were quiet and watched the humans then. They are watching us still, trying to make sense of the secrets of love’s perfection.

From Heart-Treasure for the Mother of the World, by the Rev Bob Janis, who formerly served as a minister in the Merseyside District. Shutterstock illustration