Tuesday 30 November 2010

Inseparable

A Christmas Medley - 30th November

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow ...


The door closed behind them, shutting the song in.

'I haven't seen you in church for ages. Things going ok?'

It was Sam's best friend, Judy. They had been best friends since they had first met up at big school, and now they were near inseparable. Except, it seemed, on the matter of church.

Kicking at the last of the autumn leaves on the walkway, Sam wasn't sure how to respond. She'd never lied to Judy, ever, and now wasn't the time to start. But this wasn't going to be fun either.

'I just haven't felt like it,' she shrugged. 'It's like ... nothing seems to work for me anymore. I know what I should be doing, but I just don't do it. I've tried, like reading the Bible every day, listening to music that I like, stuff like that, but I can't find God anywhere ....' She trailed off miserably.

'Hey hey, Sam, don't worry! We all have our ups and downs ... life's like that. I'll pray for you, ok?'

'Yeah, thanks,' Sam responded, not very enthusiastically.

'C'm'ere, lemme give you a hug. I'll bet you a good hug's part of what you need,' Judy said, putting her arms out in invitation.

And indeed it was. Sam felt herself relaxing for the first time in ages. It was as though she had been totally dehydrated by the lack of human contact - which was hardly true, as she had had plenty of hugs from her Mom the last few weeks.

'I've got to get off to practice for the Carols by Candlelight,' Judy said, suddenly realising the time. 'I wish you were coming too ... Oh well.'

'Enjoy it,' Sam responded with a sudden grin, too good-natured to ruin her friend's happiness. 'I'll catch you later. Think it'll snow tonight?'

Song extract from "In the Bleak Midwinter"

Monday 29 November 2010

Deck the Halls

A Christmas Medley - 29th November


Deck the halls with boughs of holly ... Tra-la-la-la-laa-la-la-la-lah
Tis the season to be jolly ... Tra-la-......


'Come on now, can you please pass me another piece of that holly?' Sam's Mom asked, holding one piece in place over the mantelpiece while stretching out her left hand for the holly.

Sam sighed, exasperated. 'Can't you see I'm busy? I've got to do this assignment for Mrs Dewer tomorrow.'

'You know you should have worked on that last week, so that you wouldn't be sat here tonight doing it. We were always going to put up the holly tonight. Now just pass me a piece - it'll only take you five seconds max.'

'There,' Sam retrieved a piece of holly, and handed it over, 'Happy now?'

'Thanks. That was the last one I needed for that decoration.'

Sam grunted as she returned to her reading. She knew she shouldn't be annoyed. She had promised Mom she'd do the holly with her, had in fact been looking forward to it ... Now she'd gone and spoilt it for both of them. If only she had done this assignment last week ....

Song extract from "Deck the Halls"

Sunday 28 November 2010

Equilibrium



A Christmas Medley - 28th November

Today was just a waste of space. Nothing but nothing had gone right. The piano lesson this afternoon had been just awful, and now the dratted door was stuck.

Delivering a sound kick to the base of the door, Sam finally got it to open. Immediately she regretted her haste as the door bounced back off the wall and almost hit her in the face - stopped only by her reflexive reaction. She stepped inside the house and slammed the door closed behind her.

'WHY is everything so DIFFICULT today,' she muttered as she threw her keys onto the bottom step. The keys bounced off the step and landed in a trainer below. 'ARGH!' she shouted in frustration.

Giving up on the keys, she marched into the lounge, flinging her school bag - which she'd taken with her to the lesson - onto the sofa. Typically, the books and pens flew out of it, distributing themselves around the vicinity. Ignoring the mess, and kicking the coffee table in passing, she deposited herself into the opposite sofa. She located the TV remote and commanded the TV set to turn on. That too got hurled onto the sofa as she settled down, with a deep breath, to try and recover her equilibrium.

Thumping her arm on the sofa arm in frustration, her hand came down on an open book. It was her Mom's Bible, left open at Romans 13. A verse had been underlined.

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.

Bible passage from Romans 13:11 NRSV

Saturday 27 November 2010

Behind A Christmas Medley

Finally the time has come! A Christmas Medley posts from tomorrow, all the way up to the 25th December.

I have long wanted to write a Christmas story. I remember that I wrote one back in 1987, at the tender age of, probably, seven/eight! My long-suffering family - and especially my eldest sister.

I hope that each of you who follows A Christmas Medley over the next month will enjoy it as much as I am enjoying writing it (yes, it is still a work in progress as I write this).

The story follows a teenaged girl as she makes her way through life and the lead-up to Christmas.