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Bulletin 151 Date : 17th Dec 2008
Tails of the Unexpected!

As the proud owners of a bird feeder which sits conveniently outside of our kitchen window, we regularly look at the variety of birds which flock to our garden to feed on the seeds and nuts – sparrows, chaffinches, robins, an occasional greenfinch. You can imagine my surprise when, as I made a cup of coffee and looked outside, two bright green parrots suddenly perched on the bird feeder. It took a few nano-seconds for me to realise that I was not dreaming. Hurriedly I ran for my camera and shot a few pictures with my 28-80mm lens just to prove I was not going bonkers.

It’s a pity that Mary and Joseph didn’t have a camera, or better still, a camcorder when Jesus was born. Then we’d know what the stable actually looked like, the expression on the shepherds’ faces as they came to visit, and we would finally resolve the mystery about the wise men – were they kings or astrologers, and how did the star settle over the stable?

Whatever actually happened, it must have been a ‘tale of the unexpected’ for both shepherds and wise men alike, not to mention Joseph and Mary. But Christmas is a time when the unexpected actually happened. Although we heartily sing ‘Come thou long-expected Jesus’ through the season of advent, to the people of his time, he was not ‘expected’ – at least not in the way he came, nor in the manner of his life and death.

And Christmas is still a time of the unexpected. I know that more and more people are changing their Christmas Present habits and asking their family and friends for money so that they can buy themselves a present – or, better still, they buy a present through Christian Aid to send to the third world – a goat, young saplings or a can of worms.

In these days of unrelenting gloom as we face the credit crunch, mounting unemployment and escalating violence, we really need something unexpected to transform our lives. The car manufacturers worldwide are facing meltdown on an unprecedented scale, financial experts are left reeling at the state of the financial markets and no one seems to know where it will all end. No one that is, except the ‘long-expected Jesus’.

My hope and prayer is that you will find something unexpectedly good at this Christmas season and into the new year. Look out for the bright green parrots – or better still, tales of unexpected joy and happiness as you give and receive in the Spirit of Christ.