The Coffee Morning made over £90 for our Benefice funds, and all but one jar of marmalade was sold. The Remembrance Sunday service was very well attended with more than 80 people, including the local Sea Cadets who brought their Standard. And now we turn our eyes towards Advent and the swift journey to Bethlehem.
However, our Bethlehem will have little in common with today's Bethlehem. No shepherds out on the hillsides watching over the flocks by night - they wouldn't be able to get through the Israeli concrete wall that divides the city. Plenty of room at the Inn though, since the tourists can't get there. Any bunch of angels that decide to hover over the fields singing "Glory to God in the highest" had better take care, or they'll be shot down by Israeli tanks. Not much "Peace on Earth" there this year .....
I've all but finished my Christmas shopping. Just two or three more items to find, and then I shall have to get down to the wrapping, especially the ones that are being posted. I never leave the buying until the last moment - in fact I start putting things away for the next Christmas in the January sales. Sad, isn't it.
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The shepherds, like the rest of the local Palestinians, would be able to bypass the Israeli concrete walls and checkpoints by using the gate through the Anglican monastery garden, which the clergy leave open for this purpose(Source - Anglican clergyman, Bournemouth). Christmas is less likely to be celebrated because the Arab Muslims have forced most of the Arab Christians to leave the area (Source - Pastor Naim Khoury, Bethleham Baptist Church).
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