BC:AD

This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future’s
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.

This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.

And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect

Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of Heaven.

This little gift, a stocking filler for Christmas, is a poem by U A Fanthorpe. Her words remind us of that at the heart of the Christmas message is the transformation of the ordinary and the mundane, the birth of a child in an unfamiliar corner of the earth, into the extraordinary and the wonderful. This is the medium through which God speaks to us, the brittle mystery of our own humanity. The axis of the world turns from BC to AD around the cry of a little child. And this is the source of all our wonder and our joy.

Merry Christmas from all the clergy and staff of the University Church. It is our joy to serve you.