Grace Under Pressure 2

           4 miles on a frosty and bitterly cold morning wearing the best running top of 2025...a TEMU special

 Utterly gorgeous and heartbreaking.      When I heard you sing It felt like a christening A baptism at the back of the bar I fell under your spell You sang my life so well As your voice quivers with each line you deliver I hear the orchestra as I stand in awe I felt so close to the Lord I’ve tried my whole life to ignore But, Love, I’m alive And maybe the Star of Bethnal Green Could lead us back to Bethlehem Lord, I have tried And maybe the Star of Bethnal Green Could lead us back to Bethlehem When I heard you sing It was a balm for the blistering My eyes, all swollen and scarred Your hands guide mine over the braille I felt each word without fail And, Love, I’m alive And maybe the Star of Bethnal Green Could lead us back to Bethlehem Lord, I have tried And maybe the Star of Bethnal Green Could lead us back to Bethlehem    

So that's Christmas over for the secular world, little realising that today is actually day five of Christmas with another week or so of the seasons still to go. But with the Christmas services all done, dusted, delivered and dispached until next year, it has ben an opportunity to 'just breathe' They went okay, judging by the reviews on Trip Advisor, but there are oly so many ways to re tell a familiar story. Unless of course you, or perhps that should be 'ewe' chose to dress up as a sheep to deliver one of your mesages. Present still remain unopened at TOM's....don't ask!!!. TV was the usual bag of setive s%$£e with repeats of repeats even appearing on the same day. Food was good and the drinks flowed in abundance. The Totley Two Doves Boxing day run was undertaken under a cloudless sky which was fabulous ( as always) and made even better by the fact that I 'crushed' my long time running rival Elizabeth by 2 whole minutes. Today has been a day of de...

  Let me get one thing straight. It doesn't matter how many cushions or padding you put on a camel, after weeks riding through the desert your backside is sore beyond belief. I have chaffed bits of me I didn’t even know existed. I can’t remember whose idea it was to set out on this journey, I blame the others, but the sight of that new star suddenly appearing in the night sky, well it did seem to fulfil all those ancient prophecies about a new king about to be born. And if that isnt’ reason enough to make a journey like this then I don’t know what is. So we’d packed, we’d prepared and we’d even picked out a few gifts. Although quite what you get for a new king is anyones guess. It took multiple trips around the local souks, markets and bazaars before we found that we thought might be suitable...gold, frankinscence and myhhr. Melchior told me the other day that he had heard a prophecy say that someday in the distant future all this shopping would be done with the simple clic...

  “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid” It’s all very well and good to hear that but you try putting into practice when confronted by a giant angel floating 6 feet off the ground. And although this heavenly being was right there in front of us, the light appeared to come from everywhere. Dazzling our eyes, blinding our vision. How on earth were we supposed to keep on eating grass with all this commotion going on!! Again the voice split the night, “Don’t be afraid!” it said. “I bring you the most joyful news ever announced,” The shepherds looked at each other’s terror stricken face. No, nothing about what was happening to them seemed like good news to them. We just carried on munching. The angel continued, “And it is for everyone! The Saviour that you have all been waiting for, yes, the Messiah, the Lord, has been born tonight in the town of Bethlehem! How will you recognize him? You will find a baby wrapped in a blanket, lying in a manger!” For everyone...my ears pricked up ...

    Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep And doesn’t know where to find them Leave them alone and they’ll come home Wagging their tales behind them.  Yes off course we will. That’s right. We’ll just wander right back home on our own, managing to dodge the ravines, the wolves, the mountain lions. It might be a lovely song but Bo Peep obviously has no ideas what being a sheep is like. I mean just take today, the entire flock had been unsettled as if something was about to happen. Barry and Barbara had wandered off...again. One of the younger lambs, Barnabas had got himself tangled up amongst some thorns and had to be cut free, which he liked about as much as the sharp thorns judging from his kicking and biting. And I haven’t even mentioned Barbie, Bart and Barnaby who were too nervous to cross the stream and had to be carried across the freezing waters on the shoulders of the shepherds. Sometimes we sheep are just not grateful. Thankfully we were all now safe...

  By the time he had knocked on the fifth door Joseph was getting desperate. And his knuckles were getting sore. It was late and many of the innkeepers had already gone to bed. It seemed to take ages for some of them to open the door, peering out into the gloom as this frantic figure outside. Quickly Joseph babbled their story..census...Nazareth...journey...wife... baby...soon! The   outcome was the same, a concerned face, a listening ear but at the end of it, no room. No room at any of the inns that he had tried. What was he going to do? What was Mary going to do? He needed help, God’s help. Joseph looked up to the star filled sky, “God if you’re listening, we’ve both done what you asked, we’ve both been faithful, so if this is part of your plan, then please help us, we’re desperate.” As Joseph sank to his knees he didn’t hear the sound of a small door open just next to where he had just knocked. A lamp illuminated the friendly face of a woman. “It sounds like you’re both in ...

    Mary couldn’t take another step. “Just leave me here,” she gasped, “I’ll be alright, there plenty of people about. You go to your cousin Ezra’s and tell them we’ve arrived. You can come back to collect me.” Joseph tried to argue but it was no good. Mary knew the time to give birth was almost here. She needed to be indoors, in a nice warm house, in a nice warm bed soon. Very soon. Joseph turned on his heels and within moments had been swallowed up by the crowds of people. A country girl at heart Mary had never been to the big cities but even she was surprised at the number of people. Nazareth had never been as busy as this. ‘They must all be here for the census too,’ she thought. After what seemed an eternity, she spotted Joseph emerging out of the sea of faces. The look on his face told her instinctively that something was wrong. “what is it,” asked Mary, “What’s the matter?” Joseph had tears in his eyes. “They haven’t got any room,” he said, “not at cousin Ezra’s or cousi...

  Even in the early stages of her pregnancy I suspect she found the journey hard, it was a long way from her home town of Nazareth to the hill country of Judea. Thankfully as she travelled with some of my extended family, on route to trade in the north, at least she had company as she journeyed. I had thought about the words the angel had said to Mary, telling her that she too was expecting a miracle child and so I was glad she wanted to come and pay me a visit. Two women of different generations, neither of whom had expected to be pregnant, both of us the recipients of God’s grace. On the outskirts of the village I stood waiting to meet Mary. We embraced, joined not just by blood, but by the strange circumstances we found themselves in. Releasing herself from my grasp I placed my hand on her as yet not swollen belly. As I did so it felt as if the child inside me was suddenly doing somersaults. She sat down by the side of the well. “What’s the matter?” she asked anxiously. “O...