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Open Door Magazine
The Open Door
magazine is produced bi-monthly by our church and
delivered to over 500 houses in the parish and beyond.
It includes articles (some of which are submitted by
members of the congregation), information regarding
weddings, baptisms and funerals, poetry, jokes and
adverts.
For further
information regarding placing adverts in the magazine,
please contact, preferably by email, the
Parish Administrator.
The following
is the vicar’s article from the latest issue,
December 2011/January 2012:-
The Vicar
writes
'Every couple of months I get a reminder from the editor
that my magazine article is almost due, and I start to
look around for inspiration. I look at what’s just
happened and what is about to happen, and, in this
instance, I recognise that one of the biggest events of
the year is drawing upon us – Christmas. The thought of
Christmas brings to mind the celebrations and
festivities which are a part of the Christmas season.
Christmas should be a time of celebration but, so often,
it comes at a massive cost because, whilst trying to
meet the expectations that people have of Christmas, it
often brings with it pressure, stress and debt. And I
wonder how people can enjoy Christmas without being
drawn into debt in an attempt to please others.
Christmas is a time of giving, sharing, celebration and
happiness, yet in the current economic crisis that much
of our world is stuck in, many people must be fearful of
the onset of Christmas.
This festive
season is ever likely to be more austere than for a long
time. The economic situation that we’re living in today
makes it harder and harder simply to survive – never
mind be generous to those around us. Competition amongst
retailers will become fiercer – pressure will be put
upon suppliers to cut prices, cut their profit so that
the retailer can maintain and increase their own profit.
Yet others will not only be forced to cut costs but also
to operate at a loss just to stay in business.
Christmas is
going to be a bleak time for many people, especially the
suppliers. And then there is the average family, put
under constant pressure by the threat of redundancy,
accumulation of debt, the increase in the cost of
living, especially that caused by the fuel and utilities
companies whose profits seem to be soaring despite the
downturn in the economy and the crisis that ensues. We
all know that it isn’t fair, and no-one seems to be able
to put a stop to it – “the rich get richer and the poor
get poorer” springs to mind. It all sounds very
negative, contrary to the optimism that the Christmas
message should be giving to us all. How are we able to
give with the generosity that our hearts would love to
give? It seems to be an impossible question to answer
and yet we only have to look at the rhyme “Christmas is
coming, the geese are getting fat, please to put a penny
in the old man's hat; if you haven't got a penny, a
ha'penny will do, if you haven't got a ha'penny then God
bless you”! It has all of the answers for us. It tells
us to give generously within our means, to give what we
can, and if we can’t give financially or materially or
even give of our time, then give people our blessing,
give them our good will and give them our prayers.
May God bless
you all this Christmas season'
Dave
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