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The Gift (Day Eighteen)
“I came home early today,” says Alana, when Peter gets home. “I felt…sick.” “What kind of sick?” Peter asks. “Like I was going to vomit,” she says. “I had cramps in my stomach all morning. But then I...
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The Gift: Fourth Candle (Day Nineteen)
The days of the week pass quietly, uneventfully. The disappointment of Tuesday gone, they seem somehow calmer, less angry but also less active, as though they are only limping through the day, unable...
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The Gift (Day Twenty)
The Story of Hannah’s Song Elkanah had two wives. The first wife, Peninnah, had given him several children, but the second of his wives, Hannah, was barren. Elkanah, however, loved Hannah more than he...
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The Gift (Day Twenty-One)
In the morning, they hurriedly finish packing for the trip and then set off, the sun already beating down its heat. As they drive, Alana is quiet, but seems alert. Peter, however, has not slept well,...
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The Lord Our Saviour (Fourth Sunday of Advent)
We all like sheep have gone astray, We wayward ones, darkened and small. Our shepherd comes, as bright as day… His brightness gives our dirt away - Will he judge us as we fall? We all like sheep have...
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The Gift (Day Twenty-Two)
Arriving in Albury just after noon, Alana says, “Let’s have lunch first.” Something makes her want to delay going to her parents’ house just yet. The afternoon stretches out before them, and they are...
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The Gift (Day Twenty-Three: Christmas Eve)
It is memories like these, of past Christmases, past family gatherings, that circle through Alana’s mind that night as she approaches bed. Her mind is buzzing, like it always used to do on Christmas...
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The Scandal of Immanuel
A couple of years ago I wrote my first Advent poem, now something that I do each year. It’s probably one of my favourites of the poems that I’ve written, so I thought I would share it with you this...
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The Lord Our King (Christmas Day – The Birth of our Lord)
Christmas Day has arrived and so Advent, with all its joyful and fraught expectation, is over. But we still wait for the final coming of our King. Let this poem help us to fix our eyes on Him this...
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The Gift: Fifth Candle (Day Twenty-Four – Christmas Day)
The final chapter of the Advent story Alana is reading Annabelle a story. Annabelle loves to hear stories, and likes Alana’s stories best. In the morning, when the rest of the family arrived at the...
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Uncertainty (After Luci Shaw’s “The Annunciatory Angel”)
As we begin the season of Advent, I thought it would be fitting to begin with some Advent-themed poems. The first is based on Luci Shaw’s “The Annunciatory Angel”, which itself is a response to Fra...
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Messiah
I was not ready: You came when I was sleeping, At my least expected midnight. Reality shook - this veil we call "The way things are"; angels sang And shepherds danced, but I - Exhausted by normality -...
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“She pondered all these things in her heart” (After Luci Shaw’s “Mary...
The virgin sat, the angel’s words shimmering around the room. She fancied now that Daniel might have shared her trembling heart when Gabriel had spoken truth which did not fully sooth. The prophets...
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Pageant: An Advent Story (Part 1)
Last year I decided to write a Christmas story which I would post each day on my blog through all of Advent. The result was the story “The Gift”, which you can still read in instalments here if you...
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Pageant Part 2
Though some would no doubt leave this detail out of their versions of the story, Grant did in fact tell Sue that he would be coming to town that Christmas. Braydon and Kassie both had parts in the...
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Pageant Part 3
Braydon felt conflicted about his father. Over the years, he had taken something of a bullet defending a man whom the whole town hated. But his stories of his father’s superpowers had done nothing to...
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Pageant Part 4
Grant looked at the mug, then up at Sue. “Thanks for the tea,” he said. “No worries,” she replied. “When do the kids get home?” “Soon.” “How are they going?” “Not bad.” Then, “Braydon fights too much.”...
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Pageant Part 5
While Braydon and Kassie debated the merits of his drinking Coke, Braydon’s teacher was in a debate of her own. The town grapevine was more efficient than any telecommunications network could manage...
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Pageant Part 6
Perhaps a word needs to be said here to clarify the past. Difficult though it always is to untangle the truth from everything that everyone else has said, it needs to be recorded that, though Grant had...
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Pageant Part 7
“They drive me up the wall,” said Kim, when they were back at her house. “Tell me about it,” said Craig. “They’re worse than the kids.” This was not the first time that town friction had almost ruined...
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