Seeker

Fireworks have become an expected part of celebration at the end of the old year and start of the new. The cynic in me says that's good for winter tourism in cities like London or Edinburgh. I don't know when New Year fireworks became popular in the UK. I don't remember this from childhood. I just know that now the start of each New Year seems to be noisier than the year before. For my Scottish grandparents 31 December was the day to complete a thorough house-cleaning, especially fireplaces, in preparation for the big celebration tonight of clearing out the old year and welcoming the new. At the same time it was important to ensure all debts were cleared before midnight. The origin of Hogmanay is very ancient, but today's Scottish tradition probably owes most to Viking invaders and their Yule winter festival traditions.  I come from a long line of Scottish Presbyterians, who frowned on the celebration of Christmas as a 'Popish' or Roman Catholic feast. From...

Christmas Prayer Thank you, scandalous God, for giving yourself to the world, not in the powerful and extraordinary, but in weakness and the familiar: in a baby; in bread and wine. Thank you for offering, at journey’s end, a new beginning; for setting, in the poverty of a stable, the richest jewel of your love; for revealing, in a particular place, your light for all nations. Thank you for bringing us to Bethlehem, House of Bread where the empty are filled, and the filled are emptied; where the poor find riches, and the rich recognize their poverty; where all who kneel and hold out their hands are unstintingly fed. Kate Compston, from Bread of Tomorrow . Image Credit: Commons Wikimeida, public domain

I  don't like long nights and short days, so I'm grateful not to live further north than I do. Here in the Northern Hemisphere today is the one with the shortest hours of daylight. After today we look forward to gradually lengthening days. So it seems fitting that the Advent Antiphon said or sung today before the Magnificat at Vespers in some Christian traditions is 'O Oriens' meaning 'O Rising Sun' (or Morning Star or Day Star). It is inspired by these words from Isaiah: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them lights has shined." Isaiah 9:2 Here is one English translation of the original Latin words of 'O Oriens': "O Day Star,   splendour of eternal light and son of justice:   Come, and illumuninate those who are sitting in darkness   and in the shadow of death. And here is one sung version together with Mary's Song (the Magnificat). Image ...