Advent is the time of waiting and hoping and longing for the promises of God to be fulfilled, and Christmas is the time when we remember that God came down, to a broken and hurting world, and stepped into the mess we’ve made with love, hope, peace and light.
Last week the Juniors enjoyed hearing the Christmas story told using the ‘Godly Play’ advent tiles.
It was recorded and we hope that you enjoy it too – the link is here.
For those of you unfamiliar with Godly Play, it is derived from the Montessori tradition and invites listeners into the stories, in both a spoken and visual way; encourages them to connect intuition of God with the language of the church; and correlate the stories with personal experience. Godly Play provides time out from our noisy fast-paced surroundings to discover a way of being still so that we can be open to the possibility of the divine, to the mystery of the presence of God, in a holistic way (engaging mind, body and spirit).
I really enjoy this method of storytelling and it is a joy to be involved as students animatedly discuss the stories with a real depth of knowledge and compassion for their world. Rediscovering a sense of the sacred in all that surrounds us is a theme that has been weaving throughout my life and ministry. I’m fascinated by the interplay between the deep silence of the unconscious brain with spiritual matters, for slow ways of knowing, that enable holistic learning as we search for both meaning and identity. Godly Play is one way of encounter with this deep silence.
I wonder – what might it mean for us to live expectantly, to wait with a sense of hope and promise? Perhaps you too would like to revisit the nativity and ponder the incarnation.
May the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and Mary and the peace of the Christ-child be yours this Christmastide; and may each of us be challenged afresh to be as Christ to others and open the fullness of his wonder, love and peace to the world which is still so much in need this Christmas.
