Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Hush the Noise
For many
people, Christmas can be a frantic, worrying time of the year. The supermarket adverts tell us that Christmas
is about having the perfect food prepared for your guests, the table set and
the food cooked to perfection and on time.
Go to them, and they will take all the hassle away. We worry that our Christmas dinner will not
be perfect. Other stores try to persuade
us that Christmas is about finding the perfect gift, trawling back through our
memories as in the John Lewis advert this year, and then going into the store
or searching on-line and spending lots of money. We worry that the recipient may not love the
gift as much as we hope. We worry about
the logistics of getting all the family together at Christmas, and whether
someone will be offended if we don’t go to them for Christmas this year, or if
we don’t stay long enough, or if we stay too long. And even if Christmas is not frantic and
busy, and surrounded by lots of other people, it can still be hard to escape
from the pressures put on by the outside world to have a wonderful time at this
season of the year, when quite simply that is not the reality of how life is
for many people.
The
Methodist Church this year is encouraging us to ‘Hush the Noise’. Hush the noise of the voices telling us that unless
our food is perfect Christmas will be a disaster. Hush the noise telling us that unless we find
the perfect gift that particular person won’t love us any more. Hush the noise telling us that to be a proper
family we have to arrange a joyful celebration when we are all together, and
with no arguments. Hush the noise. . .
.and hear the angels sing.
And what do
the angels sing? Glory to God in the
heavens, peace on earth, goodwill to all people. First, glory to God in the heavens. Remember that at the heart of the Christmas
story is the birth of a baby, an event which Google informs me happens about
385,000 times a day across the world. But
this is a special birth, a special baby, one who revealed to us during his
lifetime what God is like, one who invites us back into a relationship with
God, one who died and was raised to new life, that we might share in that new
life and be invited into God’s kingdom. Glory
to God in the heavens. Second, peace on
earth, goodwill to all people. When we
look at the world, peace and goodwill may seem unattainable goals, totally
beyond our power to achieve. But there
is a song which says, ‘Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with
me.’ You may not be able to end the war
in Ukraine, or solve the conflict in the Middle East single-handed, but perhaps
there is a neighbour, or a friend, or a member of your family, to whom you can
offer a hand of peace, or a gesture of goodwill.
As one of
the traditional Christmas carols puts it,
‘And man, at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring.
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!’
This Christmas, may we all find some time to ‘Hush the noise.
. .and hear the angels sing.’
Stephen
Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Hush the Noise
For many people, Christmas can be a frantic, worrying time of the year. The supermarket adverts tell us that Christmas is about having the perfect food prepared for your guests, the table set and the food cooked to perfection and on time. Go to them, and they will take all the hassle away. We worry that our Christmas dinner will not be perfect. Other stores try to persuade us that Christmas is about finding the perfect gift, trawling back through our memories as in the John Lewis advert this year, and then going into the store or searching on-line and spending lots of money. We worry that the recipient may not love the gift as much as we hope. We worry about the logistics of getting all the family together at Christmas, and whether someone will be offended if we don’t go to them for Christmas this year, or if we don’t stay long enough, or if we stay too long. And even if Christmas is not frantic and busy, and surrounded by lots of other people, it can still be hard to escape from the pressures put on by the outside world to have a wonderful time at this season of the year, when quite simply that is not the reality of how life is for many people.
The Methodist Church this year is encouraging us to ‘Hush the Noise’. Hush the noise of the voices telling us that unless our food is perfect Christmas will be a disaster. Hush the noise telling us that unless we find the perfect gift that particular person won’t love us any more. Hush the noise telling us that to be a proper family we have to arrange a joyful celebration when we are all together, and with no arguments. Hush the noise. . . .and hear the angels sing.
And what do the angels sing? Glory to God in the heavens, peace on earth, goodwill to all people. First, glory to God in the heavens. Remember that at the heart of the Christmas story is the birth of a baby, an event which Google informs me happens about 385,000 times a day across the world. But this is a special birth, a special baby, one who revealed to us during his lifetime what God is like, one who invites us back into a relationship with God, one who died and was raised to new life, that we might share in that new life and be invited into God’s kingdom. Glory to God in the heavens. Second, peace on earth, goodwill to all people. When we look at the world, peace and goodwill may seem unattainable goals, totally beyond our power to achieve. But there is a song which says, ‘Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.’ You may not be able to end the war in Ukraine, or solve the conflict in the Middle East single-handed, but perhaps there is a neighbour, or a friend, or a member of your family, to whom you can offer a hand of peace, or a gesture of goodwill.
As one of the traditional Christmas carols puts it,
‘And man, at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring.
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!’
This Christmas, may we all find some time to ‘Hush the noise. . .and hear the angels sing.’
Stephen