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glorified and enjoyed forever.

Here we pause. Not because the storyends here, but because it never ends.This glory of Jesus Christ, this perfectjoy of the saints, is not a moment thatpasses, but an eternal state that willnever end. Rather than the curtain fall,and the stage go dark, the wholeauditorium is consumed in the evergreater light of the glory of God.

And then…

Then back to advent: we clear the stage,reset the lights, put all the props back in

place, reset the marks, and start to tellthe story over again.

The church has told, re-lived as it were,this wonderful story, every year for overtwo thousand years. It never gets old, itnever gets tired, it never needs to beupdated or re-imagined. It is theamazing story of God himself steppinginto our humanity to save us.

Have a very Happy Christmas, and praythat God will grant us a more favourableNew Year!

God bless, Karl

C.S. Lewis called it the Grand Miracleand the Central Miracle. He noted that“Every other miracle prepares for this,exhibits this, or result.s from this...Thefitness, and therefore credibility, of theparticular miracles depend on theirrelations to the Grand Miracle.”

So if you can believe in Christmas – theincarnation of the Son of God: theGrand, the Central Miracle, you shouldhave no problem believing the miraclesin the Old Testament narratives or themiracle of the Virgin Birth, the miraclesJesus performed of feeding themultitudes, of His healing the sick,raising the dead, walking on water andcalming the storms. You also need haveno problem in believing in the bodilyresurrection of Jesus and His ascensionback into the heavenly realms, where Hereigns as King of kings and Lord oflords.

In other words, to believe the essence ofthe Christmas story is to believe the

miracle that will open the pathway tofaith and eternal life, a life of followingthis risen Jesus as your Lord. Tounderstand and believe the truth of theIncarnation will not only transform youridea of Christmas—it will change yourlife now and your everlasting destiny.

Revd Dr Roger RobertsFrom The Parish Pump

Christmas: Celebrating the Incarnation

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This time of year you can see all sorts oftraditions played out with regard toChristmas decorations. Strict adherentsuse holly, ivy and of course, mistletoe.While holly and ivy are to be found ingardens and hedgerows, mistletoeusually only appears in greengrocers'shops, or high in a tree well out of reach.

Mistletoe is hemiparasitic, meaning thatalthough its leaves enable it to feed itselfthrough photosynthesis, its roots invadethe host tree or shrub to extract waterand other nutrients. Its favourite hosttrees are apple, lime, hawthorn, poplaror oak and it normally hangs as a largeglobe, tantalisingly high and totallyvisible once winter arrives and it is theonly green left on the tree. There aresome spectacular examples in WindsorGreat Park, clearly visible from the pathon the opposite side of the RiverThames.

We all know about the almosttranslucent white berries, fleshy andsticky, which form in the forks ofmistletoe's many branches. While theyare toxic to humans, they are attractiveto birds. When birds have enjoyed thejuicy flesh, they wipe the remainingseeds off their beaks onto the nearest

branch [somewhat like small childrenwiping sticky hands on any surface closeby – mummy's face or clothes?]. Withluck the seed remains stuck to the barkand solves mistletoe's problem ofreproduction.

In Greek mythology, mistletoe gaveaccess to the Underworld. Romansthought it represented Peace, Love andUnderstanding and perhaps that is howit has sidled into our Christmascelebrations. The earliest documentaryevidence for kissing under mistletoedates from the sixteenth century. Somepeople think a berry should be removedafter each kiss. Given the small size ofpieces generally available these days,perhaps that is a practice not to bepursued!

From The Parish Pump

You may have noticed, once again, thatthis newsletter has relied heavily onmaterial drawn from the Parish Pump.This is an excellent website thatprovides material for parish newslettersand magazines.

If, however, the newsletter is to remainrelevant and interesting to our churchmembers and to those in our villages we

really need contributions from withinour own community which reflect thelives and concerns that really affectthem.

If you think you would like to writesomething, or contribute to thenewsletter in any way, please get intouch with Karl. We’d love to hear fromyou.

Myth of Mistletoe

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“No account of old Cheshire churcheswould be complete without the inclusionof the twelfth century church at Bruera.”So wrote Raymond Richards in his OldCheshire Churches of 1947. One canhardly disagree with him, and hisgeneral comments are worth repeating:“From all this thorough treatment (therestoration of 1896) the church emergedwith many new additions, including thereshaping of certain windows, and theraising of the wooden bell turret.Nevertheless, the structure as a wholeremains essentially Norman, and is oneof the few churches in the countyprimarily twelfth century in character.Formerly called ‘Capella in Bruera’, thissmall church was in existence in Saxontimes, and traces of tenth centurymasonry are to be seen near thedoorway, in company with the Normanremodelling, carried out early in thetwelfth century.” His mention of theSaxon work is particularly interesting.This consists of several stones carvedwith spiral patterns which in design arealmost identical to those decorating theAnglo-Saxon font at Deerhurst inGloucestershire – one of the oldest inEngland. Saxon work anywhere is rareindeed; so much was deliberatelydestroyed after the Norman Conquest.

Canon George Bennett, the then RuralDean of Chester, was particularlycomplimentary following a visitation in1934: “Ignoring antiquarian guesses, itis safe to say that this has been a holyspot for some nine hundred years.Bruera means heath (Saighton meanswillow), and the chapel on the heath isalluded to in the records of the Abbey of

Saint Werburgh, to which it belonged, inthe twelfth century. The fabric has beenthrough periods of decay and neglectfollowed by restoration. Hence themassiveness of some of the masonry andthe evident antiquity of much of thematerial. It was well restored in 1896 ata cost of £5,000 and has been kept invery good order.” As a rough rule ofthumb, an old penny in 1896 would havehad the purchasing power of about apound now (although you would be hardput to find a pint of beer for as little as £2today – beer was “tuppence a pint”then), so the cost of restoration wouldequate to the best part of one and aquarter million pounds in present daymoney.

Inevitably there have been some lossesover the years. Until the 1896restoration there was apparently acurious inscription scratched with adiamond on a pane of glass in the northwindow of the chancel, which read:-

Damn Popes, Prelates,Jacobitism, Idolatry,wrote by me, 177-

The writer (perhaps wisely) failed toinclude his name.

Michael Spencer

AWonderful Ancient Church

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6th December: One account of howFather Christmas began tells of a mannamed Nicholas who was born in thethird century in the Greek village ofPatara, on what is today the southerncoast of Turkey. His family were bothdevout and wealthy, and when hisparents died in an epidemic, Nicholasdecided to use his inheritance to helppeople. He gave to the needy, the sick,the suffering. He dedicated his wholelife to God’s service and was madeBishop of Myra while still a young man.As a bishop in later life, he joined otherbishops and priests in prison under theemperor Diocletian’s fierce persecutionof Christians across the Roman Empire.

Finally released, Nicholas was all themore determined to shed abroad thenews of God’s love. He did so by giving.One story of his generosity explains whywe hang Christmas stockings over ourmantelpieces today. There was a poorfamily with three daughters who neededdowries if they were to marry, and not besold into slavery. Nicholas heard of theirplight and tossed three bags of gold intotheir home through an open window –thus saving the girls from a life ofmisery.

The bags of gold landed in stockings orshoes left before the fire to dry. Hencethe custom of children hanging outstockings – in the hope of attractingpresents of their own from St Nicholas -on Christmas Eve. That is why threegold balls, sometimes represented asoranges, are one of the symbols of StNicholas.

The example of St Nicholas has never

been forgotten - in bygone years boys inGermany and Poland would dress up asbishops on 6th December, and beg almsfor the poor. In the Netherlands andBelgium ‘St Nicholas’would arrive on asteamship from Spain to ride a whitehorse on his gift-giving rounds. To thisday, 6th December is still the main dayfor gift-giving and merry-making inmuch of Europe. Many people feel thatsimple gift-giving in early Advent helpspreserve a Christmas Day focus on theChrist Child.

From the Parish Pump

St Nicholas – a much-loved saint

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Malaysia being the first country I visitedin the Far East you may wonder why Itravelled so far afield.

Previously like many others in the early1960’s I would stay on one of theSpanish "costas" or maybe other placesin Europe. I used to travel with three palsand each year one of us would choosethe holiday destination for that particularyear. Gradually, as each one becamemarried, a stop had to be called to theirgallivanting, so I was left in limbo!

Always having had a fascination withthe Far East and having already exploredmost of western Europe, I "bit the bullet"and travelled out east.

For my first visit I had only planned tostay for two weeks, I was working then,but had such a marvellous time that Iextended my stay to three weeks,much to my boss"es disapproval.

After that first visit I was "hooked" andever since I have become a regularvisitor to the Far East. Gradually as morecountries have "opened up" theirborders; Vietnam & Cambodia forexample, I have been able to visit them.

I make either Malaysia or Thailand "mybase" where I’m able to leave most ofmy luggage safely with friends beforetravelling "outstation" as is known towherever.

Incidents I most remember are the firsttime I stayed on the Malaysian island ofLangkawi close to the Thai border.In fact Langkawi is the largest of agroup consisting of ninety-nine islandssome belonging to Thailand.

In those days it was completely unspoiltno development at all. I went with threeMalay friends and we camped on thebeach. To me it was paradise come truemiles and miles of deserted beachesglorious sunshine what more could Iask.

Hard for us to understand, but the localshate the sun and will do anything tokeep out of it. I suppose it"s rather likeasking us to go out in the rain, youwon’t do unless it"s absolutelynecessary.

When it was time for my friends toreturn home, I wanted to stay-on in mynewly found paradise. What to do?nowhere to stay, no hotels, nothing! Myfriends, being Malay, then asked at thenearby "Kampung Houses" if they werewilling to accommodate me. AKampung house being typicallyMalaysian style built on stilts. A familysaid they would, so I started a friendshipthat has lasted to this day.

What an experience it turned out to be,although they couldn’t speak anyEnglish, and in those days, I likewisecouldn’t speak any Malay. We,

Back to basics in Malaysia

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nevertheless, got along fine.

It was a completely different world towhat I knew no running water, just awell outside, which also served as thebathroom. No electricity, just an oillamp burning in the open doorway. Nocooker; meals were cooked on a woodfire, and one slept on the wooden floorwith just a small pillow to rest your headon.

I well remember the first night, the twodaughters, coming home from school,gathering firewood from the jungle, thenhaving to chop it up to light the fire. Itnever ceases to amaze me how they canmanage to cook such delicious meals insuch a primitive way on a wood fire.

I had to eat in Malaysian fashion, withyour hands, no knife & fork or even aspoon, and sitting on the wooden floor.At least the food was on a plate!

As we all sat in the open doorway, underthe oil lamp, being in jungle surroundsin the inky darkness the oil lampattracted hundreds, if not thousands, ofinsects all flying around the oil lamp.This proved fatal for many of theinsects, as they either collided with eachother, or got frazzled by getting too closeto the hot lamp. The problem was, asthey got injured and unable to fly, theylanded down on your plate stillfluttering. So many, that you needed topick them off your plate, and throw themout of the open door, before scooping thenext handful of your meal.

It may not be everyones ideal way tohave a meal, but to me it was all part ofa completely new way of life. "Adifferent ball game as the American"swould say."

There was no waste; anything left onyour plate, like fish bones, was droppedthrough a gap in the wooded floor muchto the delight of the hens and goatsbelow, it was their meal!

When I eventually returned to thecapitol, Kuala Lumpr, and told my moreaffluent Chinese friends of myexperiences, they were horrified, sayingthere was "no way" they could live thatsort of life; living in a Kampung house.

For many years afterwards I stayed withthe same family, and still do, sadly theold Kampung house is no more. A moremodern house has been built in themeantime, with running water and nowthey have electricity.

I’ve had many adventures, staying witha Malay family over the years, living theway they did, helping them gather theirrice from the Padi fields, collectingcoconuts etc. But thats another story foranother day.

Brian Newton

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Children’s Page

Can you find solve the word square? Look very carefully to see if you can find theword listed below. Good luck!

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Children’s Page

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Children’s Page

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Children’s Page

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Rector: Revd Julian Beauchamp,Waverton Tel: 01244 336668Associate Minister: Revd Karl Jones,Aldford Tel: 01244 620403

St John’s and St Mary’sWebsite:https://aldfordandbruerachurches.wordpress.com

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