Christmas is coming!
Ah, I love this time of year. Anticipation hangs in the air like warm breath on a frosty morning, an edge of excitement creeping in and affecting everything as the big day approaches. And what a thing to commemorate – God come down to Earth as a man to save us! That’s something worth celebrating.
The Carol Service in the Students’ Union, organised by the Christian Union, was on Wednesday evening. I was helping by welcoming people on the door and giving them chocolates with a Bible verse attached, and was dressed up in my suit and bow tie to do so. The speaker, John Risbridger, said that he couldn’t remember speaking at such a smartly-dressed student event and felt distinctly underdressed for the event! He gave a good talk, and it was a fun evening.
Yesterday morning after my Medieval Heresy lecture on the Albigensian Crusade, I headed into the city centre for some shopping. I resolved not to get stressed about finding presents, and had a merry time just browsing the shops and market stalls, looking out for things that my friends and family might enjoy. I really like the arcades and indoor market – some of the shops and stalls are a world away from the homogenous chain stores of the nearby high street.
One of those homogenous shops I went in was Toys R Us. A stack of Remote Controlled Daleks was positioned right by the entrance, much to my delight. I have to admit that I pressed the button on each of them to set off a chorus of “Exterminate! Exterminate!”
I managed to get several presents, but what they are is a closely-guarded secret, especially since some of the people they are for sometimes read this blog! I sometimes think it’s a pity that blogs don’t have a feature to block specific people from reading specific bits, so then everyone could chuckle about my getting ***** for ***********, without *** knowing about it. But word would probably get round to the person in question anyway.
Today I went to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which I’d organised as a Navigators social, though I’d told other friends from my course and from CU as well. I’d got tickets for many people, but at the last moment I discovered we were one short! I’m not quite sure why the numbers didn’t add up, but I rushed downstairs to buy another ticket, and fortunately they hadn’t sold out and so I got in. It was a bit of a pity that the cinema was very full by the time we got in and so we couldn’t sit as one group. The film was really good, very enjoyable, though talking it over afterwards most of us agreed that it lacked a certain indefinable magic. It lacked an extra sparkle to make it truly brilliant, though it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly could have been done better. But a wonderful tale to further enhance my Christmassy mood!
I then hurriedly ducked in the bathroom to put on my bowtie, and shot off with some fellow CUers to the Christian Union Christmas dinner in Highfields Church, which was great fun – turkey and crackers and mince pies, oh my! It was fun having a relaxed time chatting to people over the meal, and then playing around and singing songs and stuff. The pleasure of good company of the likes of Ian and Robbie and Helen and Swithin and Matt Bater and Katie and all the many other good friends there is something wonderful, and coupled with good food and the thrill of approaching Christmas makes for a delicious evening.
And now here I am, back home (or at least, back in my house, which I don’t quite think of as home), and it has just turned midnight, which means that in two weeks exactly it will be Christmas day.
“Joy to the world, the Saviour comes – let earth receive her king!”