Blessing to Follow

Contemporary parables for living

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• Publisher: Wild Goose Publications
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781905010745
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Ecumenism & Interfaith

A collection of original and contemporary parables - the first of a series of three - using the framework of the Christian Year to offer a story for every week, and a few more besides.

1 Anticipation

For a small boy in a small town the anticipation was almost too much to bear. It began with a banner strung across the main street, proclaiming in bold letters – as it did every year – ‘Agricultural Show and Summer Fair, Town Park, First Saturday in July’. That was the start of it, and, in the weeks that followed, the increase in anticipation for a small boy was matched only by the escalation of preparations.

A huge marquee went up in the park where one set of football goalposts had been, soon to be followed in the last days of June by a proliferation of smaller tents scattered from one end of the park to the other. Indeed, as the great day approached, the area was transformed into a veritable tented village.

Bunting went up the week before the event, strung from the windows of the upper stories of many of the houses in the town down to their garden gates; festooned across the main street from the top of one lamppost to the top of another; looped along the fence which separated the town park from the road … millions of miles of colourful bunting, it seemed to a small boy, guiding the enquiring traveller right through the town, along the main street to the gates of the park itself, with the bunting continuing round the perimeter like a welcoming garland.

With a day to go, huge loudspeakers were erected on giant posts at all four corners of the park, and big men leaning out from a high cradle made sure they pointed in the right direction. ‘One, two … one, two …, one, two, three … testing, testing … one, two …’ would boom out mysteriously as sound-systems were tried out.

Wooden gates and pens were put in place for the Noah’s ark of animals which would fill them in the early hours of the special day – cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, and always the family of goats from the farm across the loch. Big, colourful signs were fixed on poles outside the tents in anticipation of what would be available inside their canvas walls – ‘Home-baking’, ‘Shepherd’s crooks and wooden crafts’, ‘Knitted goods’, and of course, by a canvas emporium a good deal bigger than the rest, the inevitable ‘Beer tent’.

For a small boy in a small town, it all was almost too much to bear, as excitement lifted with the bunting, expectation increased with every new development and change, and anticipation rose with every sign of the Big Day’s approach.

When the great day arrived, following a sleepless night for organisers, animals, and one little boy among many, many others, the Town’s Annual Agricultural Show and Summer Fair never, ever disappointed. The expectancy was always the forerunner of something special. And, every year, the event surpassed expectations. For a small boy in a small town the anticipation was almost too much to bear. But it was well worth it.

Was it the same for a farmer with his prize sheep or best Highland cow? Was the same pleasure experienced by the family who brought their goats from the other side of the loch? Was the excitement shared by Mrs McDougall with her Victoria sponge and cheese scones, whether she won or not? Was a small boy’s big sister just as excited with her knitted dolls and baby clothes? Was the anticipation too much to bear for the organising committee? You bet it was!

For a small boy in a small town the anticipation was almost too much to bear. But then again, it made the great day all the more worth the wait.

God of our Advent

God of our Advent,
the banner has been strung across the main street
of our journey of life and faith –
‘Christmas is coming – only a few weeks to go.’
For our Advent has begun –
now it’s preparation time;
now it’s excitement time;
now it’s time for childlike anticipation.

God of our Advent,
help us with our preparation
so that all will be properly ready for the great day.
Help us with our organising
so that together we might do what’s right.
Help us with our attitude
so that our anticipation might almost be too hard to bear.

God of our Advent,
when the tented village of Christmas is ready
to offer once more
the fun,
and colour,
and precious exhibits
for all the people,
let my anticipation have done its job
when the great day arrives.

God of our Advent,
the Incarnation will come …
and the anticipation of this Advent Season
will be worth it,
even though at times it will be almost too hard to bear.

First in Advent

Old Testament: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

2 Angus gets ready

Long before the days of supermarket chains and out-of-town shopping malls, Angus McPherson sold fruit and veg from his horsedrawn cart. Angus was a ken-speckled figure around the villages along the edge of the loch, always attracting his familiar customers and small groups of excited children. For the customers, it was the quality of the produce that kept them coming, a fine mixture of the vegetables Angus grew in his kitchen-garden and the fruit and veg delivered to the rail-head in the local town. For the children, it was the horse … for Atlas, Angus’s ancient black-and-white steed, was always a favourite. Angus McPherson was a popular man.

Then there was the gossip … for Angus was always the enthusiastic conveyer of this or that piece of local information. ‘Did you know that Jessie Cameron’s girl has fallen pregnant, and not yet married either? …’; ‘Fancy new car the minister has … must be paying him too well …’; ‘I’ve heard tell the local bus is only to run twice a day and not three times …’; ‘Old Jimmy’s failing fast … not long for this world …’ Angus McPherson, purveyor of fine fruit and veg - and juicy pieces of local knowledge – was indeed a popular man.

New Year was always a great time for Angus and Atlas. Actually, it was a good time for Angus, for Atlas had to do most of the work. For with a dram or two at regular intervals, and more gossip exchanged than vegetables sold, Angus was usually in a pretty sorry - or happy -state by the time his round was over. That’s where Atlas had to do his bit, for he knew the way well and would take himself home safely at the end of the day, stopping in the yard inside the farm gate. And there was Angus, slumped over the reins, only rousing from his slumbers with the bumping of the cart over the yard’s cobbles.

But it was at Christmas time that Angus excelled himself. Not that there was much fruit and veg available over the winter months, and, with the shorter days, the visits to the villages were curtailed too. But there was still gossip and information to be purveyed, and the cart was always full of that! So Angus and Atlas’s visits were as welcome as ever. And no more so than in the few weeks before Christmas when Angus transformed his cart into a thing of wonder and delight.

It began when he appeared with a string of golden, cardboard angels pinned all around his cart - the same angels every year, for as far back as people could remember. ‘Why’ve you got these on your cart, Angus?’ some curious child was bound to enquire. ‘Because angels are messengers,’ Angus would reply, ‘and we’re getting a message too.’ And the children would gather round, and Angus would tell them stories – of angels and messages, and Elizabeth and Mary, and dreams and visions.

A week later he appeared in the village with the angels round his cart and a lantern hanging from a pole at the back – a storm lantern, the kind the villagers were all too familiar with as their precaution against the variability of the local version of the National Grid. ‘Why’ve you got that lamp on your cart, Angus?’ one of the children would inevitably ask. ‘Because there’s a Light coming soon for the whole world,’ Angus would reply. And the children would gather round, and Angus would tell them stories – of lights and darkness, of lamps and pathways, of stars and stables.

Another week would pass, and he would come to the village again, with the angels round his cart, and the storm-lantern shining at the back, and Atlas would be decked out with a coloured rug across his back and a fetching straw hat over his ears. ‘Why’ve you dressed up your horse, Angus?’ would be this week’s question. ‘Because there’s a gift coming, a special gift, and it has to be carried in a special way.’ And the children would gather round, and Angus would tell them stories – of gifts and travellers, of donkeys and camels, of preciousness and anticipation.

But the best week of all was when Angus arrived with angels round his cart, and a lantern on the back, and a horse all dressed up – and a few old apple boxes on the back of his cart. ‘What’s in the boxes, Angus?’ excited children would ask. Angus didn’t disappoint. For in the boxes there was a present for every child, a simple, home-made gift, created by Angus himself. ‘Remember the best gift of all,’ Angus would tell them as his gifts were distributed. And the children would gather round, and Angus would tell them stories – of mangers and babies, of shepherds and kings, of a Saviour and Christmas.

Angus McPherson, purveyor of fine fruit and veg, and local knowledge, and stories for children, and Good News for everyone. No wonder he was a popular man around the villages along the edge of the loch, and no more so than in those few weeks as Christmas itself approached.

Look!

Look, listen, wait, get ready –
for I bring you a hand-full of stories,
of angels and messages,
of Elizabeth and Mary,
of dreams and visions.

God of my looking,
help me look well for your coming.

Look, listen, wait, get ready –
for I bring you a box-full of stories,
of lights and darkness,
of lamps and pathways,
of stars and stables.

God of my listening,
help me to listen well for your coming.

Look, listen, wait, get ready –
for I bring you a cart-full of stories,
of gifts and travellers,
of donkeys and camels,
of preciousness and anticipation.

God of my waiting,
help me to wait well for your coming.

Look, listen, wait, get ready –
for I bring you a Life full of stories,
of mangers and babies,
of shepherds and kings,
of a Saviour and Christmas.

God of my readiness,
help me to be ready for your coming.

Second in Advent

Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-4.
Epistle: Philippians 1:3-11
Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

3 Prepared

When the Town Council decided that the old bandstand in the park was to be demolished and replaced with a new one, there were no complaints from...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Anticipation
• 2 Angus gets ready
• 3 Prepared
• 4 The best Christmas ever
• 5 The Nativity Play
• 6 Why?
• 7 Rodney’s carnation
• 8 A little liturgical twist
• 9 The wedding day
• 10 The shoes
• 11 The basket-maker
• 12 Chosen
• 13 The climb
• 14 Beauty from the ashes
• 15 The theft
• 16 Bessie’s plan
• 17 The rowan tree
• 18 Elvis leaves the building …
• 19 Introductions
• 20 Happiness
• 21 Sceptical
• 22 Mrs Garrity’s Monday morning
• 23 Betrayal
• 24 Beyond words
• 25 Murdo the storyteller
• 26 Puzzled
• 27 Janie’s long wait
• 28 The gate
• 29 Billy’s box
• 30 Duncan
• 31 A friend in Id
• 32 Monkey
• 33 Invisible to the eye
• 34 Through clouds and sunshine
• 35 One over the eight
• 36 The milking-stool
• 37 New life
• 38 Velda’s shoes
• 39 Graffiti
• 40 Larry’s jacket
• 41 Seventy-two
• 42 Two doughnuts, please
• 43 Listening
• 44 Harold
• 45 A prize possession
• 46 The warning
• 47 Division
• 48 Victoria
• 49 Strangers together
• 50 What lasts?
• 51 Lost and found
• 52 The brown coat
• 53 Riches
• 54 Laurie Henderson’s boat
• 55 Just a wee note
• 56 Elvis gets a chance
• 57 The showman preacher
• 58 Knee-high
• 59 The old photo-frame
• 60 The clockmaker
• 61 Aunt Martha’s flat
• 62 Andrew
• 63 A blessing to follow