Carols by Candlelight

Carols by Candlelight

Sunday 15th December 2019

A big thank you to everyone who helped to make Carols by Candlelight a success on Sunday afternoon. It was great. Thank you.

I wonder what was special for you.

Mixed in among the carols and scripture readings were poems and sketches including the almost inevitable joke about Cliff - "not that Cliff. A cliff" as one of the shepherd says - and a snatch of "Mistletoe & Wine". And that wasn't all. Later the two shepherds were at it again. This time they find the baby in the stable only to be told that it's a boy, weighing six pounds, seven ounces. How did they know? "Joseph gave him a weigh in a manger!" (Away in a manger was, obviously, the next carol.)

If that's your joke, I'd be happy to acknowledge.

The shepherds also featured in a poem by Godfrey Rust, Modus Operandi

[Perhaps I should say that no disrespect was intended towards shepherds, wise men, donkeys, lambs, mangers, angels or any other celestial characters.]

There were two musical interludes (in addition to Cliff Richard). One was an instrumental rendition of O Little Town of Bethlehem on the Joy to the World CD from the Kings Chamber Orchestra. The other was a track from the CD A Celtic Christmas by the group Incantation, a version of The Holly & the Ivy. 

One of the poems was Winter Paradise by Kathleen Raine, which is a meditation on age and our place in the world and how we are all connected with something greater. The poem ends:

You have looked upon me all my days
More loved than lover's face
More merciful than the heart, more wise
Than spoken word unspoken theme 
Simple as earth in whom we live and move

Thank you everyone. It was great.