麻豆约拍

Good morning. If Christmas Day is the first day, then in terms of the twelve days of Christmas, this is the twelfth day, and we鈥檝e come a long way from a partridge in a pear tree to the day of twelve drummers drumming, no less. But that means it鈥檚 twelfth night too, by which time tradition has it the decorations should come down, put away for another year as life returns to normal.聽

One of the most poignant lines of the Christmas story comes in St Luke鈥檚 Gospel, when the angels had left them and gone into heaven, and the shepherds returned to their fields to watch their flocks by night once more. 鈥淏ut Mary kept all these things鈥�, St Luke tells us, 鈥渁nd pondered them in her heart.鈥� Life was hardly returning to normal, it would never be the same again, but for a little while at least Mary was at last left in peace to reflect on all the things that had happened there in the backstreets of Bethlehem. And pondered them in her heart.聽

As our decorations come down, trees out onto the pavement, cards to recycling bins and boxes back into the attic, may we ponder these things in our hearts too, and pray that something of the Christ child may remain to sustain us in the coming days.聽

Lord God, at Christmas the backstreet, the forgotten place, was lit up with significance, and on this day when so much will be put away or thrown away, we pray that something of that significance may remain, to bring peace to troubled streets and nations, peace to troubled hearts and homes. Amen.聽