I’ve been trying to keep my focus on the real importance of Christmas this year. It’s so easy to miss the point. Its not about all the material things we give or even receive. I’ve been trying to understand what it means to encounter the joy and the peace of Christmas.

I’ve been trying not be too stressed when things go wrong. For example the Christmas Eve service plans went hay wire this yesr. We ended up having no musicians to play. My sermon notes weren’t printed because I ran out of ink so I went down early to the church to use the printer there, only to find that I didn’t have a clue how to put a new bottle of toner in the print machine. I ended up preaching without notes. But in truth it all worked out and I believe it was a meaningful service.

On re-reading the story of the shepherds as described in Luke’s Gospel. I discovered that the message ” Good Tidings of Great Joy” made great sense to them because they discovered the ‘peace and the joy’ for themselves.

I think what I learn from this story is that the shepherds where first and foremost optimistic and expectant. They decided that they would go and test out the truth of their experience. In doing so they encountered the joy and the peace of the Lord.

It got me thinking – it is so important to try and live a life of expectant optimism.
I’m sure this is what Paul meant and wanted us to practice when he said ‘ If God be for us who then can be against us’

So I’m going to trust God right now and embrace the shepherds example.

The Gospel itself is a message for all because it has at it’s core the one thing for which we humans are longing – to be at peace with each other and with God.

I had an interesting start to the day. I went in search of Alan Stewart farmer and road haulier. I’ve known Alan’s family for many years. I wanted to meet up with a real life person connected with the business of sheep farming in order to make a podcast for Sanctuary First. When I finally tracked him down he was busy on the mobile sorting out the many deals he has to negotiate each day as he plans the movememnt of sheep from one part of the country to the other. He jokes with me telling me he’s given up the shepherd’s crook for a mobile phone. Anyway in the process of making the podcast I discovered this newly born lamb and its mother. You can check out the podcast and find out more about the story at www.sanctaryfirst.org.uk when it goes up in a couple of weeks.

An hour later I was down at the Woolworth Store . It was good to have the prayers and the support of the rest of the ministers in the town as we opened the doors to the public.

We believe this is an important opportunity for the church to make a visable presence in the town this Christmas and allow people the opportunity to reflect on the Christmas story in a contemporary setting. It is also a great witness when Christians from all the various denominations work together.

So if your around in Bo’ness over the next few days make sure you drop into the store for a chat and a cup of tea. The labytinth is well worth the visit.

One thing that has been drawn to our attention is how quiet our town is during the afternoons. People seem to get up and do their shopping in the morning. When it comes to the afternoon and the evenings it is pretty quiet. I wonder if this is a pattern in other town? It makes one think seriously about what is happening to all the town centres around Scotland. Where is community locating itself if not in the shops and cafes and pubs of a town? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.

Church was busy tonight. We had a quick curry cookery demonstration going on in the kitchen while in the church itself people were putting the finishing touches to the Christmas decorations. The tree went up last Sunday but we left it empty so that we could use it as a prayer tree. Tonight we put our Christmon decortion on it and I must confess it looks absolutely fantastic. While we’re talking about trees. I got the big holly tree that stands outside our made door shaped into a Christmas tree. I’m looking forward to getting the lights put on it tomorrow.

The programme continues to be worked on for the Woolies Project. We just need to pray in all the cash we’ll need to cover our expenses. Keeping praying and i’ll keep giving you updates.

My moble rang- the voice on the other end of the phone was inquiring if I still had a use for the empty Woolwoth store in Bo’ness. I had left a note of interest in the property about five weeks ago. To be perfectly honest I had moved on from the idea and I was preparing for Christmas without Woolworth. Having received the call the question now running through my mind was could we put together a Christmas use for the store in such a short time?

After the meeting tonight it looks as though we might have a plan. I’ll keep you all informed of how our plans are proceeding.

Today is damp dark and a bit gloomy. Yesterday was a beautiful Winter’s day. The sun was shining brightly as I drove to the crematorium. Such beauty in the middle of sadness. Sometimes I wish the weather would match the things I have to do. When I feel sad lets have rain, and when I feel happy lets have sunshine!

However the day ended with the discovery of these wonderfully red holly berries. For some reason I was drawn to think about the cross of Christ. The red berries spoke to me about the beauty and the bitterness the sadness and the joy of relationships. These are real emotions that help me begin to reflect on who I am and why I am drawn to the cross of Christ.

All this got me thinking about something Luther said.

“The man who looks upon the invisible things of God as they are perceived in created things does not deserve to be called a theologian. The man we perceives the visible rearward parts of God as seen in suffering and the cross does deserve to be called a theologian.” (Theses 19 and 20)

For Luther God is revealed and paradoxically hidden in the cross of Christ. Like Moses Luther believed we could never see God as he is, we must encounter him from the rear. We can only see the back of God. God reveals himself in paradox. His glory is in shame in humility is in his glory.

This is the first week of Advent a time when we as Christians reflect on the idea of beauty and sadness. The Christmas story itself has these elements. There must have been great beauty revealed in thd face of the Christ Child but also a great deal of anxiety and fear and suffering encompasssed his early life. Does not Luke record that a spear would pierce te heart of Mary? So here in the story of a manger and a stable there can be found the making of the cross.

Don’t give up – there is always a way to fix things. If your in a bad place at the moment watch this little video clip it brought a tear to my eye.

All of us at sometime in life get stuck in reverse. Instead of going forward everthing seems to be going backwards. We have all made decisions and said things that we wish we could change. Getting unstuck is what living is all about. I’ve come to the conclusion that by nature we are all sticky people.

The meaning of life for me is the unsticking of self so that we can be free. Yet I’ve also discovered that understanding requires us to live with paradoxs. To enjoy freedom I need to love. To love I need to live in communion with another or be in community with others. To make community or communion work I need to be free to give up my freedom for the sake of love and in doing so I am proving my freedom. The greatest encounter wth freedom is to wear bonds of love.

Jesus of Nazareth used stories to illustrate ways to move our lives forward. The story of the Lost Son never ceases to touch me in quite a profound way. I think it is the visual imagery that reaches beyond words.

Well I’ve been out of range of WiFi for the past couple of days. This post will serve as my last one from this trip to Peru. I’m sitting in the KLM Business Lounge writing this post. Like all travellers I can’t wait to get home.

Yesterday, was just one of those magical days in your life. We left Paul’s house just after 6.30am to miss the traffic. We were heading for the airport in Lima to take a flight to Cusco. From Cusco we would travel to the Sacred Valley to a town called Urabamba.

We arrived in Urabamba just after lunchtime. The little lodging house we checked into was amazing. Well specked, I’m told it is owned by a priest in Europe, it’s his nest egg for retirement. It was a good place to wash and get freshened up before heading out on a one hour trip to the latest Girasoles Home in the sacred valley. What a magnificent setting.

We picked up a crowd of the boys returning from school. They all climbed into the new minibus. This bus was donated by Greenbank Church Youth Group in Edinburgh. This has proved to be a tremendously useful gift . The fact is that this home is so isolated, without the minibus it is difficult to see how the boys would get about.

We arrive at the home around 3.00pm. What a welcome we received. I’m sure all forty boys run towards the bus shouting their words of welcome. Hector their house father jumps out of the van and introduces Willie and myself and our friend David who has joined us for this trip.

The home sits in what can only be described as a little piece of paradise. The huge mountains in the background and the shining silvery river running behind the home all adds up an amazing idealic setting.

The boys are anxious to show us  round their home to see their rooms. The first thing that strikes you is how tidy their rooms are. Willie comes over to me, “go on, take a picture of this wee boy’s bed, it could make you cry.” Well in this setting the sensitive side of McPherson is revealed as we look at a bunk bed with a wee boys teddy all ready and prepared for sleep. Its actually a little lamb. How wonderful to think that a child that once was on the street can regain something of the innocence and fun connected with childhood. More than this I recall to myself the words of the song.”Wherever I hand my hat that’s my home”

A few minutes later the boys are called for their evening meal. One of the children stands and gives thanks for the food. Then each table is served. Soup was the first course followed by chicken and rice, then jelly and angel delight. The boys didn’t leave a scap. It was great to see forty hungry boys getting tucked in.

After supper the boys had some time to play. David had brought a gift for the boys. A game of Table Tennis. This amuses a large number of the lads. Others had their pockets filled with marbles while others played football. In another area a group were doing homework, while a couple of boys had been detailed for washing up.

I move around the site taking pictures. Then something quite amazing happens. A rainbow appears on the sky just above the home. For me this was a sign a wonderful sign that God was smiling down our efforts.

On this journey we have visited the many varied projects run by Union Biblical and funded by the Vine Trust. It has been great joy to represent all of us in Scotland and beyond who have so faithfully supported the work. Of course I heard about challenges and difficulties but I also met people in Peru who are willing to face these challenges knowing that God is with us. For more pictures check out my picture gallery.

This post is going to be all about lights at Christmas. Its truly wonderful how a candle can light up the darkness. I know it sounds like stating the obvious but to me it is always full of wonder. I think to myself so where did the darkness go? Of course its still there but the light has brought another dimension so that your eyes see things that otherwise would be hidden. Every Christmas there is always something or someone I see in a new light.

WE SEE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Last night I wa at the Dockers Welfare Social Club to listen to the Songwriters Christmas Song Competition. It was a great night organised by Stephen of “We See Lights“. It was great to hear a load of new Christmas songs. If you want to hear what some of them sounded like click here

CHRISTMAS LABYRINTH

I think the labrynth at St Andrew’s Parish Church Bo’ness is one of the most spectacular Christmas Light experiences you will ever come across. It was written by Maggie Lane who was our probationer minister during Christmas 2006.  A team of people still run with it and have created quite a wonderful Christmas encounter. It was designed to encourage us to make a journey to follow the star like the wise men of old to find the child i the manger who is the Saviour of the world.

there will be different stations for you to stop at on the journey giving you an opportunity to participate, to think, to pray.  Music will accompany you on your journey. You will be given an MP3 player to guide you through   your journey. the journey can be done 15 minutes or it can take you longer depending on how long you choose to stay at each station.

Word has got out this year and I believe we had a a good number of people going through the experience yesterday. So if your reading this and you can get over to Bo’ness between 2pm-4pm and 6pm -8pm today then I believe it will be an experience you’ll remember for a long time.  The thing I find encouraging about this is to see  people of all ages going through the labyrinth. If I  can get a hold of one of the tracks from the MP3 player I include it in my next post.

On other thing, I said I’d mention something about the other projects in India. take a moment to pray for those who suffer from the dreaded disease of leprosy.  Mount Zion Church in Chennai have been helping a group of people who suffer from leprosy who live together in a colony outside the city. Its about 40 miles from their church but they go every second week with food and money to help them. Last year you may recall we had an appeal in the town of Bo’ness to send them blankets.  Please keep this group of people in your prayers this Christmas. We sent £400.00 on Monday for the support of this community. A small amount but it wil go a long way to feed people with rice this Christmas.

BEING THANKFUL

Hope you enjoyed looking at the  last post Fixed Point.  Here’s another little film about a trip I made to India last year. It might encourage all of us to be thankful for all we have.

We sent off £13,500 pounds to India this morning. It was a real joy to feel that this money will be arriving in time to make a difference this Christmas.

This is money that we’ve been collecting to share with our partners in India who are part of our World Without Walls Project.  Somehow we seem to have adopted  five projects, some we are supporting more than others.  Take a moment to look through te slide show  SANGITA_TRUST.html

In this post i’m focusing on the Sangita Orphanage. Tomorrow i’ll tell you about one of the other projects.

If you scroll down on the slide show you’ll see pictures of the Orphanage being built. It looks really cool.

You will see that there are various projects on the go. Including a very worthy project which is helping feed men and women who live in a leprosy Colony.

I’m particularly concerned about the Sangita Orphanage at the moment, mainly because they are trying to build a home for over 70 children, while  being under the threat of being evicted from their present premises.  the landlord has upted the rent and has the right to evicte them whenever he wishes. He has already taken over part of the building and they now care for 70 children out of two rooms.

Paul and Grace Moses the founders have started to build the new orphanage but they need more funds to finish the project. `The thing is it is in an amazing site and the plans are quite spectacular. A million miles away from what the children are living in at present.  They need to build another three buildings to be able to house the children. Each building costs £6,000 to erect. Today we sent £7,500 this will help erect another building and also help with the running costs. If you’d like to donate to this work you can do so by going to www.standonline.org.uk our church web page and press the donate link on the left hand side of the page.

I’ve just finished writing the blurb on the Christmas card that we send round our Parish. In it I’m suggesting that we could all do with a minimalist Christmas. By this I mean unplugging all the light pollution that goes with Christmas so that we can see the real star. The thing is, I know, the Light still shines brightly for those who are looking, but some have lost their way with the tinsel and the tat.

We have a little Advent Bible Study group that meets every week with us in the manse. We’ve decided we’re going to do a few subversive things this year to draw people’s attention to the real light. Last Sunday at the Ceilidh we handed out little St Andrew Flags and invited people to write prayers for our nation and town. Last night our group of Advent Angels slipped don in the dark into our town and pinned all the prayers on the Christmas Tree in the Market Square.

We decided we’d claim back the tree, give it meaning. S we’re on the lookout for more Advent subversive things to do. If you can think on any please let me know. We’ll keep you up to date with our subversive ministry.