麻豆约拍

From Leslie Griffiths, Methodist Minister:

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Christmas this year will be different. And difficult. A man whom I鈥檝e only ever seen on Christmas Day has just died; so a run of twelve consecutive Christmases in his company will be broken. I know I鈥檓 going to miss him.

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John (that鈥檚 his name) roared into our lives on a large motorbike, clad head-to-toe in leather. His first Christmas Day with us came about because he鈥檇 been looking for a gathering of people who鈥檇 otherwise be on their own. And he found us. He was soon in the kitchen scrubbing pots and pans and washing endless dishes, as we served the forty or so people who were gathered for the day. And then, dinner done, he entertained the whole assembly. He鈥檇 been a professional singer, had appeared in West End shows and even, when times were bad, as an extra in blockbuster movies. He gave us a real cabaret performance which ended in a tear-jerking, drag rendition of an old song about a favourite dress: 鈥淭ill it wilted I wore it, I鈥檒l always adore it, my sweet little Alice blue gown.鈥�

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His jokes were risqu茅, his language earthy, his manner camp and theatrical. He made us laugh till our sides split. John is said by those who knew him to have had no religious beliefs whatever 鈥� a view that makes me scratch my head. His whole life shone with love, you saw it in the way he dealt with everyone, taking frail old people to the toilet, talking to them simply about their loved ones. Whatever he had, I wanted some of it. Jesus reminded us that being good at religion wasn鈥檛 enough to get us our place in heaven. It鈥檚 by our fruits that we鈥檒l be judged, the way we live our lives. On that basis, dear John is already there with a cheerful audience for his Alice blue gown.