Letter
from St James the Least of All On
the perils of the crib service The
Rectory St.
James the Least of All My
dear Nephew Darren, I
was pleased to hear that you enjoyed your first Christmas
in your parish, although a little disappointed that you
replaced the 'boring' Crib Service with a 'more exciting'
alternative. I have yet to understand the theology - or
even point - of your 'Bananarama' celebration. I'm sure
your bishop would be interested to hear of its biblical
authority. Having
said that, our own Crib Service proved to be a little
unorthodox and far from boring. Choosing the cast from
the Sunday school is always a delicate process. One of
the youngsters who wanted to be Joseph was only given the
part of the innkeeper. He seemed to accept the
disappointment with good grace, but had clearly made his
plans. On
the evening of the performance, Joseph knocked on the
innkeeper's door and asked if there was any room. This
was our innkeeper's great opportunity. He threw open the
door and told Joseph and Mary that there was plenty of
room and they were both welcome. The cast and audience
froze, while the teacher responsible contemplated early
retirement. But
Joseph hadn't got the star part for nothing. He pretended
to look round inside and then turned to Mary and said,
"Nah, it's too crowded in there; we'll use the
stable round the back." And so the nativity was
rescued by one nine year-old. There's Episcopal material
in that boy. Christmas
would not be the same without carol singing round the
village. There is the annual dilemma of deciding just the
right moment to go and sing in the pub. Too early, and
the customers aren't sufficiently maudlin to give
generously; too late and they drown out the choir with
their own variations of 'Silent Night'. We are offered
mulled wine at most of the houses we visit. Mr Prentice's
solo as Balthazar became ever more operatic with his
"sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying," as the
evening progressed. Perhaps by the time of our last call
he was even getting a little too operatic. And
so to the climax of it all, with the But
a new year is now upon us; after the joys of Christmas,
Lent comes hard on its heels. Precisely my philosophy:
every silver lining contains a cloud. Your
loving uncle, Eustace |