Scenes from the Perfect Christmas Film

Hello, thank you for popping in, especially as I expect you are very busy with just a few days to go before Christmas.  It's lovely to see you here.

Imagine, if you will, that it's a week before Christmas and one dark, cold, cloudless evening a group of close friends set off to drive out into the countryside, laughing and chatting all the way.  As they drive further away from the towns and villages, leaving the lights behind, the sky becomes darker and when they reach their destination, they step out of the cars into the crisp night and see all the stars in the sky shining gloriously above them, let by bold Orion.  They point it out to each other in awe.  Behind the trees, they make out the ruins of an ancient castle and next to it, a church, its stained glass windows lit up like boiled sweets by the lights within.

Well wrapped up in coats and scarves and still chatting excitedly, the friends walk carefully up the dark path, swinging torches before them with gloved hands to light the way for their booted feet.  When they arrive at the church door, they are greeted warmly with cups of hot mulled wine and invited to find seats.  The stones of the building, almost a thousand years old, are bedecked with Christmas glitter and greenery and as they fill two pews, a smiling woman in a red coat comes to them bearing a tray of hot mince pies.  The church fills up as more and more people arrive and then the brass band, who are seated in the chancel, strike up "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful".  The friends sing lustily, along with everyone else in the packed church, whether faithful or not, and a carol service unfolds with familiar bible readings, unfamiliar poems, children wearing golden crowns to match the instruments in the band, candy canes for everyone and a sermon which places the story of a humble young couple seeking safety and shelter firmly in the reality of the present.

 

I haven't imagined this, although it was all so perfect that, afterwards, I wondered if I had done.  This was the carol service I went to earlier this week at St Bartholomew's Church in Moreton Corbet and I was one of those close friends.  I went to the same service last year with The Mathematician and raved about it so much that my friends wanted to come with me this time (and The Mathematician is not yet home from university).  We have had a rough year and this service was exactly what we needed to do together - honestly, if you wanted a blueprint for the perfect carol service, I think this would be it, although you would also have to arrange the weather and the stars, and perhaps a ruined castle.

Many people love a carol service, whether or not they believe in the Nativity story at its centre.  Those carols which we have heard every year since we were children, finding the words come to our lips easily, can conjure up happy memories of Christmases past, the feelings of excitement we had when we were children, looking forward to all the gifts Father Christmas would bring us, looking forward to time off school and, later, work, looking forward to seeing the family members we only saw at holiday time, looking forward to parties, pantomimes and gluttonous amounts of guilt-free chocolate.  Happy memories of Christmases past surface and we sing our hearts out in an effort to sing that happiness into the present.  

Thank you, St Bartholomew's, for giving my friends and me the perfect carol service.

See you soon.

 

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x