Saturday 25 December 2010
Thursday 23 December 2010
Blessings and Christmas reflection
My dear Friends
We are very lucky in this part of East Anglia as we have had very little snow. Some came down about a week ago and left the pavements and the roads very icy, so it is still treacherous to walk. Yesterday afternoon there was a small flurry but it soon petered out.
I wonder what it was like in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, on a cold winter's night, as the carol goes.Was it 'deep amid the winter snow' as the other carol goes? It must have been amazing as the Shechinah, the glory of God lit up the winter's sky above the shepherds and the manger. Let us hope that every birth at this time will contain the wonder of the miraculous birth of Jesus.
We think of the lonely, the unloved and the homeless at this time. I thank God for my little flat, given to me by the Council when I was made homeless in 2003. And for my little pussy cat, Thomas, who came out of the woods and made a beeline for me one evening when I was in my garden. He is a great companion but I wonder where he goes outside in the middle of the night: does he have a Friend to go dancing with??
Wherever you will be at this Christmas I wish you blessings, warmth and safe travel. I have no computer at home and all the libraries will be closed, so I am signing off until 4th January.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Sister Gila
We are very lucky in this part of East Anglia as we have had very little snow. Some came down about a week ago and left the pavements and the roads very icy, so it is still treacherous to walk. Yesterday afternoon there was a small flurry but it soon petered out.
I wonder what it was like in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, on a cold winter's night, as the carol goes.Was it 'deep amid the winter snow' as the other carol goes? It must have been amazing as the Shechinah, the glory of God lit up the winter's sky above the shepherds and the manger. Let us hope that every birth at this time will contain the wonder of the miraculous birth of Jesus.
We think of the lonely, the unloved and the homeless at this time. I thank God for my little flat, given to me by the Council when I was made homeless in 2003. And for my little pussy cat, Thomas, who came out of the woods and made a beeline for me one evening when I was in my garden. He is a great companion but I wonder where he goes outside in the middle of the night: does he have a Friend to go dancing with??
Wherever you will be at this Christmas I wish you blessings, warmth and safe travel. I have no computer at home and all the libraries will be closed, so I am signing off until 4th January.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Sister Gila
Thursday 16 December 2010
The coming of the Christ child
My dear Friends
We are now in the 3rd week of Advent and we are eagerly anticipating the birth of the Christ child, the light of the world, coming to bring us out of darkness. It has been a time of watching and waiting, a time demanding patience and even endurance. It is a time of much joy and preparation, but there is even another meaning to all this.
For we are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ, as predicted in the Scriptures, the time when 'He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.' 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' said Jesus, in other words the Beginning and the End. This thinking about the end time has its place in both Jewish and Christian eschatology-the Rabbis predicted the Messiah would come on the first night of Passover.
When Ely Wiesel, a French Jewish writer and survivor of the Holocaust was invited to speak to a group of American priests, he opened his remarks by saying 'We are all waiting for the same thing.' With all the violence in the 20th Century, some sources say that the 2nd coming is imminent. But we don't know exactly when this will be, only God knows. But let us hope that we may be ready and that we are found watching and waiting.
Shalom and many blessings
Sister Gila
We are now in the 3rd week of Advent and we are eagerly anticipating the birth of the Christ child, the light of the world, coming to bring us out of darkness. It has been a time of watching and waiting, a time demanding patience and even endurance. It is a time of much joy and preparation, but there is even another meaning to all this.
For we are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ, as predicted in the Scriptures, the time when 'He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.' 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' said Jesus, in other words the Beginning and the End. This thinking about the end time has its place in both Jewish and Christian eschatology-the Rabbis predicted the Messiah would come on the first night of Passover.
When Ely Wiesel, a French Jewish writer and survivor of the Holocaust was invited to speak to a group of American priests, he opened his remarks by saying 'We are all waiting for the same thing.' With all the violence in the 20th Century, some sources say that the 2nd coming is imminent. But we don't know exactly when this will be, only God knows. But let us hope that we may be ready and that we are found watching and waiting.
Shalom and many blessings
Sister Gila
Friday 3 December 2010
Chanukah
My dear Friends
It is the time when the light is coming into the world with Christmas fast approaching. But the Jewish people also have a festival of light at this time - the Festival of Chanukah or Dedication. I remember it fondly from my childhood.
Around 164 BCE the Jews in Palestine were being tyrannised by the Greek kings, particularly King Antiochus. He tried to force them to force them to become pagans, eat the meat of the pig and lose their faith in the One God. The Greeks desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem and put up Greek statues.
Against this religious oppression rose up a Jew called Judah Maccabbee and a band of followers, called the Maccabees. They fought the Greeks and against all the odds, won and reclaimed the Temple and their faith in the monotheistic God of Abraham. They cleaned up the Temple, removed the statues and wanted to light the Menorah. However there was only enough oil for one day. Then God made a miracle and the oil lasted for eight days, until new oil was pressed and brought to the Temple. So, like Christmas, this is a festival of miracles and also a Festival of light. You can read the story in the Book of Maccabees in the Bible, in the part known as the Apocrypha.
There are many lovely customs associated with Chanukah. A candle is lit on the eight days of the Feast,with songs celebrating the triumph over oppression. There is interesting food-latkes-potato pancakes and also doughnuts and there is a game with a spinning top, called a 'dreidle.'
Handel the composer wrote an oratorio called Judas Maccabeus, with the famous chorus 'Hail, the conquering hero comes.'
Last night I relived my childhood and celebrated the 2nd night of Chanukah with my old friend Jane, we lit the candles and a feast of latkes and doughnuts.
Chag sameach! Happy Chanukah!
Sister Gila
It is the time when the light is coming into the world with Christmas fast approaching. But the Jewish people also have a festival of light at this time - the Festival of Chanukah or Dedication. I remember it fondly from my childhood.
Around 164 BCE the Jews in Palestine were being tyrannised by the Greek kings, particularly King Antiochus. He tried to force them to force them to become pagans, eat the meat of the pig and lose their faith in the One God. The Greeks desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem and put up Greek statues.
Against this religious oppression rose up a Jew called Judah Maccabbee and a band of followers, called the Maccabees. They fought the Greeks and against all the odds, won and reclaimed the Temple and their faith in the monotheistic God of Abraham. They cleaned up the Temple, removed the statues and wanted to light the Menorah. However there was only enough oil for one day. Then God made a miracle and the oil lasted for eight days, until new oil was pressed and brought to the Temple. So, like Christmas, this is a festival of miracles and also a Festival of light. You can read the story in the Book of Maccabees in the Bible, in the part known as the Apocrypha.
There are many lovely customs associated with Chanukah. A candle is lit on the eight days of the Feast,with songs celebrating the triumph over oppression. There is interesting food-latkes-potato pancakes and also doughnuts and there is a game with a spinning top, called a 'dreidle.'
Handel the composer wrote an oratorio called Judas Maccabeus, with the famous chorus 'Hail, the conquering hero comes.'
Last night I relived my childhood and celebrated the 2nd night of Chanukah with my old friend Jane, we lit the candles and a feast of latkes and doughnuts.
Chag sameach! Happy Chanukah!
Sister Gila
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