Dear Friends
Christmas is nearly here again, and we are getting ready to celebrate the special time when that special baby was born. It is at this time of year when people around the world get together and celebrate this special day.
At the present time there is unrest across the world due to religious and cultural clashes, although we may look different – colour of our skin, hair, the way we dress does not mean we do not believe in the same person, God has many different names. The bible tells the story of the wisemen who travelled to see the new-born king – Matthew 2 :1 – 12.
Tradition has it that there were 3 men – Gasper having brown hair; Melchior – white hair; and Balthazar having dark coloured skin, they all looked different but were together to see the same special child.
Children do not see the ‘colour of a person’ or ‘how they may be different’ they just see a person as somebody they like. I have recently taken over story time at playgroup and to start with they did not call me anything! Out of the blue one of the little ones very excitingly greeted me with shouting out “grandma” and danced about showing me her jewellery she was wearing. When I go down to see them, she still calls me Grandma and so do some of the other children now, am I offended, no they see me as a person who spends time reading them a story.
When my son was small, he had a favourite nursery teacher called Mrs Anesu when somebody asked him what colour she was he said she was pink and purple! He did not see the dark colour of her skin, but she always wore pink and purple.
We should take lead from children and see the ‘person’ not what they look like, colour of skin, hair, how they dress, but what they give to others – love and kindness. At Norristhorpe one of the hymns that we always sing at this special time is ‘Love came down at Christmas’ by Christina Georgina Rossetti.
The last verse is: Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
I hope you all have a special time with family and friends.
God bless,
Janet (Norristhorpe URC)
