I do hope all is well with you and you have been able to enjoy the past weeks of autumn as we move into the winter months. I must say I welcome the lights that I have seen coming up around the villages as the days become shorter and that wonderful promise of even more as we move through December towards Christmas. It is not surprising that so many faiths have celebrations of light during this time, Jesus ‘the light that no darkness can overcome’ (John 1:5) what a wonderful truth to hold on to in the Christian faith.

Living in Westbury I was really pleased to watch the wonderful firework displays lighting the sky from various locations! Thankfully my young border terrier is not bothered by the bangs and whizzes, and he watched through the window by my side. What spectacles we saw. My previous dog, a big strong labrador used to quiver with fear at the sight and sounds and would still do so if all the curtains were closed and the tv or radio on. I did think this year, that whilst I really enjoyed it, many people are also terrified when they see such lights in the skies and hear such noises, as they tell of local air attacks and unrest, not a fun firework display - we are indeed, so blessed to live in such peace.

We can feel blessed, but we can also help - we can all offer our prayers to such areas of unrest and to those areas devasted by flooding, how awful they have been across the globe. And we can offer what we can by contributing to charities that send support. And locally I say a big thank you to all who contribute to our local collection points for the food bank, in Tingewick church and now in Westbury church too, and to Baby Basics, collecting in Turweston and now In Westbury as well. All contributions are gratefully received and passed on and put to very good use. Bless you for blessing others with your gifts.

As we go forward into our Winter season you will see from our calendar, we have a lot of services and celebrations coming up, many featuring light, candles, carols and Christmas food to share. I do hope you find one that will suit you to come along to; do give one a try if you haven’t before. I look forward to meeting all of you who can make it.

As always, please do ring me, or email me if you would like to chat and all blessings.

Reverend Paula Smith 01280 701631

Sermons

If you would like to listen to some sermons from our services, then visit here