We publish a Parish Magazine 4 times a year and in each Magazine there is a letter from Jonathan Smith, the Vicar at St John's. Here is the Christmas 2005 one:
Many people, if asked to recall nostalgic childhood memories, would speak of summer holidays and also the season of Christmas. There is something about the remembrance of a childhood Christmas which, for many, evokes warm feelings of fondness and contentment. There are the memories of those who are no longer with us, the laughter and gladness and somehow all the tensions and difficulties which certainly must have existed are forgotten.
I particularly enjoy reading Dylan Thomas' "A Child's Christmas in Wales" where, with vivid and rich language, he describes the panoply of aunts and uncles who came together to share Christmas. For myself, I remember as a young child spending Christmas at my grandparents' home in County Durham. It always snowed of course, (didn't it always then?) and the visit, which encompassed New Year and First-footing, always included trips to visit eccentric great-aunts who all, somewhat meticulously, seemed to be named after precious stones … Pearl, Ruby, Beryl and Amethyst (though there was a suspicion that the latter was not her real name and she had only adopted it to make up the set!!). It's easy to get carried away by the nostalgia of Christmas and it should not be forgotten that for some the memories are painful and sad. It cannot have been easy or comfortable for Mary and Joseph as they made their hard and uncomfortable journey to an overcrowded and unfamiliar Bethlehem. We are familiar with the privations of the experience, the danger of the travelling and the difficulty in finding suitable accommodation, but, until very recently I had not appreciated another factor. It would have been the norm for a young Jewish girl, about to be delivered of her first child, to be attended by her mother and other close female relations. Due to the Census and having to be in Bethlehem with her husband, Mary is denied this comfort and re-assurance. It must have been an anxious and frightening experience for her. here are many in the world who this year will spend Christmas in shelters for the homeless and refugee camps, forced to leave their homes because of war or famine or natural disaster. There will be babies born in the same excruciating conditions as Jesus, the Son of God. If it is our happy lot to spend Christmas safe and warm in the loving environment of family and friends, let us rejoice and give thanks, but also remember and offer some of our resources to those whose experience will be one of uncertainty, desperation and fear. May you know the peace and joy of Christmas,