The Friday Fix

  • ‘In the Garden’ – Van Morrison

    Jim writes:

    Van Morrison was born in 1945 into a Belfast protestant family. He left school with no qualifications and ‘showed little empathy for others’ and an ‘aggressiveness’. His father had a huge blues collection and it was this sense of dislocation among black musicians that Van tapped into from an early age. He grew from show bands and hit pop groups like ‘Them’ to a major (some would say giant) figure in music. His words, arrangements and voice are a unique interwoven combination. He creates poetry and music, both of which can stand alone, but move seamlessly together.

    Van has sought particularly from 1968 onwards to express a journey of the soul. He takes from many faiths to do this. He believes his songs come to him from an outside source. He has often said he considers himself to be a Christian mystic. He might well draw back (depending on what day of the week it was I suspect) from terming himself a practicing Christian. However, there is a lot in his ‘Caledonian Soul’ music for a Christian to use and grow within.

    This song poem, ‘In The Garden’ is perhaps one of his greatest and most successful contemplations of the soul. He says that he intended it to be a meditation; he intends to lead the listener and reader through to a sense of tranquillity.

    There is a strong tradition of meditation in the church that gradually lost its way from the 18th Century, but had a resurgence in the 20th Century. The 1965 Vatican Council and the Pope Benedict XXVI re-emphasized its role in Lectio Divina, sacred writing. Methodism has had a resurgence of interest in meditation. It has become a valued part of services and in 2005/6 the Methodist church encouraged people to ‘pray without ceasing’ which lasted over 14 months.

    The poem/song grounds itself in a person and a place. It gives a starting point for the spiritual musings and journey. It sets up the senses with the use of rain in the streets and then the garden, transposing that to the tears of the girl. This is to move the observer into empathy, a physical as well as spiritual empathy. And this in turn sets up a contrast as we see the new radiance in the girl. The garden is a renewing and renewed place of grace, of joy, of rapture where God and human meet. Again physicality is linked to God at work. The breeze blows, the colours change on her skin. And then the writer is caught up in the ecstasy of the scene:


    “And as the shiver from my neck down to my spine ignited me in daylight and nature
    in the garden.”

    One almost feels and sees a trail of gunpowder with a flame traveling along it to ignite a bonfire of feeling.

    The writer draws us beyond observing into the feelings of those ecstatic spiritual moments and commune with the world and God. This is a key part of many Christian meditations; the moment when intellectual thought, mental awareness, heightened senses, heightened awareness and spiritual openness co-join with the presence of the Holy Spirit – or, as Van puts it, the Holy Ghost. Often Methodist meditation will use a physical object, like a candle to draw in and focus the mind and spirit. It is about being in a place where the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, can be recognised and felt.

    Sarah Middleton writes in ‘Sensing God’ that all five senses are to be employed. She cites so many places in the Bible that enjoin the senses in the moment of realisation of God at work. Among these: Psalm 34:8, ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’; Psalm 141:2, ‘Let my prayer to you be as incense.’ St Paul says that we are God’s incense, the aroma of Christ to the world.

    Not many know that the painter Vincent Van Gogh was, at one time a Methodist auxiliary preacher. He wrote about seeing Christ in the eyes of others and referred to Jesus as the ‘ultimate artist’, creating not pictures but people. This is the link between meditation and the senses. Someone like Van Morrison or Van Gogh draws in our physical antennae unites them with our intellect and uses that intermingling to
    open up our souls to spiritual awareness.

    Here is Van painting with words and music and the very physical strains of his own voice, wrestling with the words, his emotions, his limitations to achieve a meditative state for himself and his listeners. He dives into the streams of his engagement with God by portraying it in a sensual and physical action:

    “And as it touched your cheeks
    so lightly. Born again you were and blushed and we touched each other lightly.
    And we felt the presence of the Christ.”


    He then places the experience into a context, saying:


    “No Guru, no method, no teacher
    Just you and I and nature
    And the Father and the
    Son and the Holy Ghost
    In the garden wet with rain
    No Guru, no method, no teacher
    Just you and I and nature and the Holy Ghost.”

    This is not about religious rules and advice. It is about face-to-face, sense-to-sense encounter with the infinite, with God. It is a personal responsibility. Some might decry that as quite New Age. But it goes much deeper than some of that trend’s superficiality.

    The music allied to the words: The chord structure has a lilt and flow like water changing its force at different parts of a stream, gathering itself in places, then falling faster down a hillside. Van sings it straight for a few lines and very vulnerably with the guitar strumming harder and softer to show the ebb and flow of emotion. Then gradually he starts to play with the range of notes adding a roughness at times. What follows that is speaking with a singing voice. There is tender whispering over extended lines which gradually, in the repeated last verse, gains steam.

    One can feel the awe in Van’s voice, the trembling in his senses, the spiritual impact of the experience of encountering God. The musicians get louder, the guitar is more visible and Van’s voice more strident and full. Then everything drops away to a hush and time slows; a time for the listener’s mind to wander into its own feelings and thoughts.

    And at the very end Van begins to bring us out of the meditation; but he leaves an anchor for the experience so we can go back to it. The Father in the Garden. The Infinite standing in this world.

    Find out more about Van Morrison at https://www.vanmorrison.com/

  • ‘If Not Now…’ – Tracy Chapman

    Jane writes:

    This song is on an album bought in 1988 when vinyl was king and the joy of buying a new turntable and speakers was a day-long outing in a padded room (intentionally for sound quality) – with cups of tea and endless listening to the same thing.

    I know this album really well as a result but time passes and new music fills your ears. It was, in fact, the track title then that sprang into my consciousness as I was reading a reflection on what it is to think that something is done and finalised and, at the same time, be well aware that within a nano-second, circumstances will change and the now will be new again.

    There’s a lot of stuff swimming around in this little head of mine at the minute.

    I am generally a girl who likes closure and clarity – it’s in my personality – and yet, even I have had to learn that the only certainty at the minute is uncertainty, and what seems to be done or important slips away to something else. Its like grappling with jelly. I am also a sensitive soul who occasionally just has to batten down the hatches and “run away” – yet that too is for the large part unsatisfactory against the reality of what we face as a society. God’s Beloved People.

    Oh, and alongside that, there’s a lot of procrastinating around at the moment. I’m seeing it everywhere and it’s beginning to wear thin.

    “Well we won’t meet again as Local Preachers until we can do so in person.”

    “Let’s leave the covenant service until next year when we can be in the building.”

    “Let’s not have Holy Communion because meeting on Zoom (substitute another medium here) isn’t real community.”

    “Let’s leave that until we can be together and sort it then.”

    All of that despite the fact that we have been meeting for work, socialising for life and worshipping the Living God that way for the best part of a year and still we don’t see it as a reality of life as people of faith.

    I get it in a way, as I am longing for the days when I can breathe the same air and feel truly connected to others again. Sing together (and I don’t just mean church – our family has a long tradition of it when we gather); natter about something other than death and a virus that’s killing thousands of people, the economy and our resilience; hold hands and hug when words can’t say what you want them to. You get the picture but if we’re not careful, there is something afoot that’s akin to inertia. Our uncertainty leads to inaction. We breed our own malaise. I breed my own malaise.

    So for me this song title alone is enough to jolt me from that kind of slumber and complexity. The writer is, I’m pretty sure, not writing about a global pandemic but the words are so provocative around how we act in response to what we actually place value on and how we love one another.

    If not now, then when?

    If not today,

    Then, why make your promises?

    A love declared for days to come,

    Is as good as none.

    We have just been through a period of preparation and waiting. “Noticing” in readiness for remembering the incarnation of God and as a tradition we value this waiting space. It has something to teach us and as we approach Lent, the same messages will be heard. Time to stop – to think – to wait.

    The Bible though, is also littered with passages of urgency, agency and grasping opportunity. Stories of fleeing persecution in the midst of chaos, building an Ark, upping sticks and venturing out into the unknown, following a star just because you think you should, changing plans to use other routes, healing the sick, following a call to leave fishing nets there and then, getting out of a tree, offering the Good News to anyone who listens, recognising the kingdom of God is already at hand within each one of us and therefore changing to a new way of living. I could go on. It advocates prayer and listening to God but does it really ever say “well….. it’s a bit tricky so you wait a bit until the dust settles”.

    As people of faith we make promises to God that we will live in a way that shows others this God of love that is constant and faithful, yet ever-changing and renewing. That we will step out and step up when required to. That we are sure God is with us. ‘Cause if not now, then when? If not today, then, why make your promises? Don’t mis-hear me. This is tough. It isn’t always doable and it isn’t about being busy with stuff just to be distracted.

    We are in difficult and uncertain times but we are here. It is for me about seeing that life now is what it is and God is a God for now – not later, not eventually, not in due course – NOW!

    If not now, what then?

    We all must live our lives.

    Always feeling.

    Always thinking.

    The moment has arrived.

    If not now, then when?

    You can find out much more about Tracy Chapman here http://www.tracychapman.com

  • ‘From Now On’ – Hugh Jackman and ensemble

    Gill writes:

    We’re coming to the end of January – the month with at least 60 days in it or at least, that’s what it feels like. It’s also, for many, a month of clean slates and new starts; a month where some of us try to change habits and behaviours to live better lives and to be better people. For Methodists, January often brings Covenant Services – and in particular, the Covenant Prayer which you can find at the bottom of this post.

    This yearly act in Methodism enables a revisiting and a renewal of commitment to relationship with God. The ebb and flow of life means that our relationships ebb and flow too – including the one with God. For many, the Covenant Service can feel like a harbour in the tempest – life can be choppy and frightening at times so setting anchor for a while in a safe, calm harbour gives us the chance to return and reconnect with God

    I saw the sun begin to dim
    And felt that winter wind
    Blow cold
    A man learns who is there for him
    When the glitter fades and the walls won’t hold
    ‘Cause from then, rubble
    What remains
    Can only be what’s true
    If all was lost
    There’s more I gained
    ‘Cause it led me back
    To you

    These are the opening words of the final song of ‘The Greatest Showman’ and to me, the whole song is about coming back to what is important and making a commitment to value it more and never take it for granted. It’s the point in the film where Barnum realises that he is nothing without all those people around him – who support him, challenge him & encourage him to be who he is. 

    Although the Covenant Prayer is a one-one interaction with God, it’s also an act of community too. For our relationship with God to grow and flourish, we need each other to help nurture our gifts and graces – just like Barnum realises in this song. It’s a public declaration to say ‘it’s not just about me, it’s about you too’. Without you, I am not me.

    And from now on
    These eyes will not be blinded by the lights
    From now on
    What’s waited ’til tomorrow starts tonight
    It starts tonight
    And let this promise in me start
    Like an anthem in my heart
    From now on
    From now on
    From now on

    The video I chose to share is not the slick, final product but one that has it’s own story to tell. It captures an incredibly powerful moment in rehearsals when the song takes on meaning and energy and a life of it’s own. Even watching it causes me to be consumed by the emotion in that space and to hear that Hugh Jackman couldn’t stop himself rehearsing it – even though his doctors told him he couldn’t sing (he was recovering from an operation on the side of his nose) – says something about the power of song and connection.

    We all fall short in our relationships – with each other and most definitely with God. We collude; we don’t intervene; we massage our egos; we only see the world from our perspective; we look after ‘number one’. So how affirming; how reassuring; how amazing to know that we can ‘come back home’, repent, renew our commitment and give ourselves to the relationship that we have with God.

    “I am no longer my own but yours.

    Your will, not mine, be done in all things,

    wherever you may place me,

    in all that I do

    and in all that I may endure;

    when there is work for me

    and when there is none;

    when I am troubled

    and when I am at peace.

    Your will be done

    when I am valued

    and when I am disregarded;

    when I find fulfilment

    and when it is lacking;

    when I have all things,

    and when I have nothing.

    I willingly offer

    all I have and am

    to serve you,

    as and where you choose.

    Glorious and blessed God,

    Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

    You are mine and I am yours.

    May it be so for ever.

    Let this covenant now made on earth

    Be fulfilled in heaven.

    Amen.

    (Methodist Worship Book: page 288-289)

    If you’d prefer the film version of ‘From Now On’ – here you go:

  • Friday Fix 2020 Playlist

    Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

    Just to brighten up your January days, we’ve created the Friday Fix 2020 Playlist on Spotify.

    It’s nearly all the songs that we covered last year – a couple of them are so ‘leftfield’, Spotify doesn’t know them (or the artist doesn’t want Spotify to know them).

    So here’s the link – it’s a really eclectic mix!

  • ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay

    Warning: this post contains strong emotions.

    Jill writes:

    In 2007-8, when we had a difficult time as a family I would sometimes find my husband sitting listening to this song, with tears running down his own face… just listening and crying.

    His cousin (aged 28) was killed in the 7/7 bombings. She was sitting in the carriage where the bomb went off and there was no chance of survival. There was nothing anybody could do.

    Her parents asked for none of us to talk about her and I’m not going to here except to say that she was an extraordinary person (you could read more in her memory https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12011102) and that she is still missed.

    This piece of music, for me, is one which has helped, since then, to deal with any difficult situations. Until I decided to write this I didn’t even know what the lyrics were. ‘I will try to fix you’ was the only phrase I remembered. There was absolutely nothing that could be done. The fire had literally ignited her bones. And yet… we wanted to fix it. We really wanted to fix it. This song tuned in with that longing and that helplessness.

    We all want to fix it… for those we love, for the world. This Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us of our vulnerabilities as a human race. We do feel ‘stuck in reverse’. We also want to fix other people… and really we can’t.

    In films those who are called ‘fixers’ are those who are known to be people who claim to do this and always come undone. They are not the ones with real power but the ones who try to convince others that they are! For me it is turning out to be a life-time’s work to learn that only God can help people truly fix things in their own lives.

    ‘Fix You’ will always remind me of those traumatic experiences (of hearing The News, of realizing it was our family’s news, of the funeral, of trying to support others through bereavement) but since then, the song has become one which helps me with other sadnesses. Until I started to write this I didn’t know that the song was performed at the benefit concert ‘One Love Manchester’ – dedicated to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017… but it does not surprise me. The music itself is healing as it brings the tears which register the realities of sadness and make the beginnings of real change possible. We can then begin to look for the ‘lights which will guide us home’

    At Helen’s funeral the vicar, who was a friend, mentioned that Helen had supported him after a difficult funeral he had to take for a child, “She said to me: ‘In tragedy, it is never God’s will. God’s is the first heart to break and God is the first to shed a tear.’”

    Find out more about Coldplay at https://www.coldplay.com/

  • ‘Solsbury Hill’ – Peter Gabriel

    Jim writes:

    The Holy Spirit (and its work) is infused throughout Creation; it does not just exist in the bubble of the Christian Church. At its most dramatic and obvious it is released and shown in the work of artists – musicians, painters, movie directors, writers, poets and all creative people.

    So we come to the song ‘Solsbury Hill’ by Peter Gabriel. A little background. The rock band Genesis formed in 1967. They gradually became very successful and were poised for massive success in 1975. It was at this point that Peter Gabriel, lead singer, decided to leave the band. In his first record he expressed the intellectual and spiritual feelings he had in the lead up to, and moment of, leaving the band and taking a huge risk with his career.

    He himself says that it all came to him in an epiphany whilst standing on Solsbury Hill. Little Solsbury Hill is a small flat-topped hill; the site of an Iron Age hill fort located above the village of Batheaston in Somerset, England. The hill rises to 191m and is a place of outstanding natural beauty.

    Peter Gabriel is not a Christian; a man of indeterminant beliefs. But everything about his ‘epiphany’ shouts of the Holy Spirit at work. The language in the song walks hand in hand with much of a Christian’s awakening. In the closing stages of the recording Peter gives himself over to shrieks and noises which pour out; he moves beyond words to express the intensity of his joy and depth of feeling. Much like St Paul in 1 Corinthians: 14 (read it here) the song achieves a balance to words and speaking in tongues.

    Like the song, the Bible has itself also uses the metaphor of the eagle for God at work giving strength:

    Isaiah 40:31: “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint”.

    So, taking the song from the start and leading through its revelation, call to action and decisions made.

    “Climbing up on Solsbury Hill I could see the city light

    Wind was blowing, time stood still

    Eagle flew out of the night

    He was something to observe

    Came in close, I heard a voice

    Standing, stretching every nerve

    I had to listen had no choice

    I did not believe the information

    I just had to trust imagination

    My heart going boom, boom, boom

    Son, he said, grab your things I’ve come to take you home.”

    Peter experiences what many Christians also feel; a voice, that of God, the doubt of what one is hearing, the physical response of the body (the heart). The message; “You are being offered a new way, a new life, a new home that you were always meant to have.” The feeling of an experience out of time and this reality while one is still standing in this reality.

    “To keep in silence I resigned

    My friends would think I was a nut

    Turning water into wine

    Open doors would soon be shut

    So I went from day to day

    Though my life was in a rut

    Till I thought of what I’d say

    And which connection I should cut

    I was feeling part of the scenery

    I walked right out of the machinery

    My heart going boom, boom, boom

    Son, he said, grab your things I’ve come to take you home.”

    Like many of us, there is not an immediate acceptance; the invitation is just too overwhelming and counter-intuitive. Like many a Christian, Peter keeps the revelation to himself. He knows that to tell others would be to provoke a pushback and incomprehension. Many, many Christians find telling their family and community about a new-found faith and revelation extremely hard. Not the least because most people will view them very differently from that point and even consider them ‘a nut’. Anyone who accepts the Spirit is “turning water into wine”. There is a leap of faith into a Creation where miracles happen, where intuitive responses to the Holy Spirit stretch every nerve, spark imagination and demand we act in opposition to what the secular world says it correct and in our best interests. So much has to be given up to actually let the Spirit guide us. But the Holy Spirit keeps repeating the invitation: “grab your things I’ve come to take you home.”

    “When illusion spin her net

    I’m never where I want to be

    And liberty she pirouette

    When I think that I am free

    Watched by empty silhouettes

    Close their eyes but still can see

    No one taught them etiquette

    So I will show another me

    Today I don’t need a replacement

    I’ll tell them what the smile on my face meant

    My heart going boom, boom, boom

    Hey, I said, you can keep my things they’ve come to take me home.”

    Christians recognise that Jesus has an often different way to this world. There is an illusion in this life of who has power. The dance of true freedom is beyond the rules, mores and etiquette of the dust of the Earth. At the end of the song Peter finds the courage from his spiritual experience to say who he really is and act that way. It is a tremendous physical, spiritual and intellectual release, “My heart going boom, boom, boom.”

    But you also notice, the last line has changed: “Hey, I said, you can keep my things they’ve come to take me home.”

    Peter at the end does not even grab his things to be taken home. He gives them away and heads off to his new life. And then, as I said earlier, the whole experience overwhelms him and he is wracked in an explosion of joyous noises and shouts. But it is speaking in tongues we understand because of what has been said earlier.

    To my mind the music and arrangement of this song linked with its words are a wonderful exposition of the Holy Spirit at work in our contemporary world. The song is a great way of showing non-Christians and Christians the epiphany like engagement, challenges and changes that the Holy Spirit works in our lives. The Nature of the Holy Spirit is to light us up, to give us the tool by which we access all the gifts God has created in us.

    You can find out more about Peter Gabriel at https://petergabriel.com/

  • ‘Numb’ by Linkin Park

    Michael writes:

    WARNING: NU METAL ALERT!

    Ok, so I confess… I’m a kid of the late 90’s and early 00’s that meant I was brought up on a healthy diet of skater rock and nu metal. And now it is my joy to share these passions with you! One song I particularly want to share is this absolute classic from Linkin Park, which was probably one of the most listened to tracks of my youth… for many angsty teenage reasons!

    I used to think this song captured well the struggles I had with my relationship with God and my parents who were heavily involved in church leadership. I was acutely aware as a teen of who I thought I was meant to be, and how any failures to fulfil that model of sonship (both natural and spiritual) would reflect badly both on God and my parents. I couldn’t take that pressure but often internalized it or handled it poorly (classic 15 year old!). This song was an outlet for my angry objections and inner distress:

    Tired of being what you want me to be

    Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface

    Don’t know what you’re expecting of me

    Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes

    I had a deep sense in myself that ‘every step that I [took] was another mistake.’ That I couldn’t do things right, couldn’t live up to the ideal I felt I had to. Alongside this, I was wrestling with my own charismatic upbringing and trying to understand why I didn’t always ‘feel God’ – something that had made me feel more guilt and resentment:

    I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there

    Become so tired so much more aware

    I’m becoming this, all I want to do

    Is be more like me and be less like you

    This song doesn’t have a happy ending. There is no shift in mood, no resolution, no hope. It just is what it is; a pained outpouring of emotion.

    I still love this song as an adult – partly for the nostalgia, but also because I now hear it from a different place. I used to think my angry wrestling with God was part of my problem. I was being faithless, a failure, a let down. I’ve learned over time though that wrestling with God is very much at the heart of the identity of God’s people.

    Israel the man literally had that fight. Israel the nation metaphorically had it for centuries. Abraham is the epitome of the untrusting follower and is the Father of covenantal community. Elijah is the epitome of the angsty God-follower and the greatest of the prophets. Peter is the epitome of the confused, over-zealous screw-up and the rock upon which the church has been built.

    I like this song because it still expresses how I feel at times, but I no longer believe I am inadequate for these feelings. In fact I feel I’m very much faithfully continuing in my tradition. Much like the Psalms of anger, lament and confusion, as I express these very real emotions I am worshipping.

    And, unlike the way this songs ends, I no longer believe that that leaves God disappointed. Rather, I believe it moves their hearts and invokes their compassion. So oddly, this rather angsty song from my youth invokes some rather treasured thoughts… gotta love a bit of redemption right?!

    Find out more about Linkin Park at http://www.linkinpark.com

  • ‘Shining Light’ – Ash

    Gill writes:

    There’s a ripple of excitement as I write this Friday Fix – excitement about ‘The Great Conjunction’ or ‘The Star of Bethlehem’ that has appeared in our skies as Jupiter and Saturn align to create a bright, shining star. This ‘star’ should be with us throughout the 12 Days of Christmas fading away on the 6th or 7th of January. Perfect timing for not only the classic rendering of ‘Nativity’ stories but for Epiphany celebrations coming up.

    There are so many lyrics in this song from Ash that have Christ-like and biblical connotations – not least the Epiphany.

    A constellation once seen
    Over royal David’s city
    An epiphany you burn so pretty
    Yeah, you are a shining light

    Having just travelled through the season of Advent where we’ve watched, waited and held on to the Light, the birth of Jesus and the Visit of the Magi catapults light and life into our dark winter days. We still have the journey to continue but we’re reminded that God is with us – that Jesus is God Incarnate – and that we can garner strength and hope from this knowledge.

    You are a force, you are a constant source
    Yeah, you are a shining light
    Incandescent in the darkest night
    Yeah, you are a shining light

    And while we might be focusing on the story of the birth and childhood of Jesus at the moment, we know that he grows up and by adolescence is asking questions and provoking thoughts and feelings in the adults around him.

    By the time he is a young Rabbi, people are listening and wondering who this person is. His questions and teaching galvanise his followers and agitate those in authority – and they still do today.

    You have always been a thorn in their side
    But to me you’re a shining light

    I still find it amazing that over 2000 years later, we are still stirred and excited by the shining light that Jesus is – and that by following the example that he set, we can share that light and bring change to our world and the lives of others.

    “In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.” (John 1: 1-5 GNT)

    I feel reassured and ready for 2021 knowing that I have this shining light to guide me. I hope you do too. Happy New Year!

    Find out more about Ash…

    https://ash-official.com/

  • ‘Some Children See Him’ by James Taylor

    Here at the Friday Fix we love all kinds of music. Occasionally we come across songs that are written with a genuine intent to be inclusive but the language of the time seems a little bit different to how we would say things today. 

    It helps to understand the context of when the song was written. This song was written on 1951, 6 years after World War Two had ended and when the Korean War was taking place. Add to that the segregation that the United States had – and you can see why this song mattered then – and still does today.

    Anne writes:

    This song brings back such fond thoughts of Christmas at school.

    Every year we would decorate the big tree in the hall on the first week in December. We waited until the children had gone home from school so that when they came in the next morning the school had been transformed in to the magical wonderland. Looking at their little faces when they walked into the hall was always special.

    At assembly time, we would gather the children around the tree and turn off the lights so that the space felt smaller and intimate and the only light came from the fairy lights on the tree. Our headteacher would sit in his comfy chair and read them a Christmas story. The staff all called him ‘Val Doonican’ because all he needed was the colourful jumper and the look was complete.

    As the children filed in, we would play a track from James Taylor’s Christmas album and so now when I hear one of those songs it takes me right back. Christmas at school is a mad rush of parties and concerts. Excitement and fun. But as a teacher, it is frenzied and frantic – and leaves you feeling drained by the time we break up.

    This song brings me back to the true meaning of the season.

    Oh lay aside each earthly thing

    And with thy heart as offering

    Come worship now the infant King

    ‘Tis love that’s born tonight

    This year I have a challenging class due to the current circumstances we find ourselves in. I have children who are terrified for their friends and family in case someone gets this dreaded virus. They are fragile and anxious and the only way they know how to cope with their feelings is to lash out and fall out with each other.

    I see it as my job to keep things on an even keel and make their life in school as normal as I can. Their Christmas will not be the one that they are used to. No concert, fayre or visit to church so it will be difficult but we still need to give them that sense that it is special and a time for awe and wonder. I will play this song to them as they come in first thing in the morning and hope that the gentle tune will reach the parts that ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’ doesn’t reach.

    The children in each different place

    Will see the baby Jesus’ face

    Like theirs, but bright, with heavenly grace

    And filled with holy light.

    I think after the world events this year, the words are more applicable than ever before. The children of every country will see images of the baby King that they can relate to but it doesn’t matter what colour they are, the important thing is that they realise that this baby, who was a child like them, changed the world. They can do that too. The family were refugees and homeless like too many children in our world today but theirs is one of the most well known stories in history.

    I will tell that story again and pray that my children will get the chance to spend time with their family around their trees and experience the joy that comes from feeling loved and safe. I look forward to seeing the faces of my grandchildren as they grow to understand what Christmas is about. I will play them these songs and make sure that the baby isn’t forgotten amidst all the decorations and wrapping paper.

    Find out what James Taylor is up to these days at https://www.jamestaylor.com/