25/12/14 - Archbishop of Canterbury says Christmas spirit not a fairytale BBC reports, Fairytale endings are not a reflection of the true spirit of Christmas, the Archbishop of Canterbury is to say. In his Christmas Day sermon, the Most Rev Justin Welby will allude to the World War One battlefield truce between German and British troops in 1914. The archbishop will remind Canterbury Cathedral the truce was a one-day wonder and the war continued with the same severity the next day. But he will say it does illustrate something of the heart of Christmas. The story of truce - when soldiers on both sides stopped fighting and played football in no-mans land on the Western front - has been highlighted in several other Christmas messages this year. It has also appeared in advertisements. During the service at Canterbury Cathedral, which starts at 1100 GMT, the Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to say: At Christmas 1914, soldiers took the risk, crossed a battleline and kindled an evening of friendship and football. The truce illustrates something of the heart of Christmas, whereby God sends his Son, that vulnerable sign of peace, to a weary war-torn world. Not fictional But he is expected to say the problem with the way it is told now is it seems to end with a happy ever after. Of course we like Christmas stories with happy endings: Singing carols, swapping photos, shaking hands, sharing chocolate, but the following day the war continued with the same severity. That is not the world in which we live, truces are rare. The archbishop is expected to urge worshippers not to reduce the story of Christmas to something utterly remote, about lives entirely different, fictional, naive, tidy. Jesus came to the reality of this world to transform that reality - not to take us into some fantasy kind of happy ever after but to Good news of great joy for all people............. Posted by: ZAC Consulting working in practice and international development for a better, inclusive, and peaceful world United Kingdom
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 06:45:19 +0000
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