Christmas 1966
The Vicarage, Blackmore,
Essex.
19 - CHRISTMAS - 66
Dear Friend,
Having taken pen in hand to
compose this tenth Christmas Letter from Blackmore, one pauses to reflect -the
fire of memory burns brighter and in its flames one sees faces and places, some
near, some far. How good it would be to sit alongside and ask: How are you? How
have you fared through 1966? We can learn only as we hear from you so we would
encourage your communication by sending you news of our own affairs.
The face of our village is
changing. The rash of new buildings which, in recent years, has been so evident
in the Hook End and Paslow Common areas of the parish, is now very evident in
the village itself. More than half of the bungalows and houses are less than
ten years old and many less than two. The growing population puts pressure on
our school facilities and at long last a new school is in building with the
first stage almost completed. We are well on the way to a new village hall. The
land has been donated and planning permission given.
We now have a Blackmore Choral
Society which is conducted by the Headmaster of our local primary school. The
Society sang Stainer's Crucifixion in the parish church on Good Friday evening.
This was much appreciated by a company which filled the church. The Blackmore
Women's Institute has grown in number and is a lively unit.
The foregoing are among the
signs that the nothing-ever-happens-here village to which we came nine years
ago is changing. We try to identify Christian service with as much of the life
of the community as we can, with a view to making the Christian Message
available to any who show interest.
Although we cannot report that
our parish church is full at the times of services, except on special occasions
and at festivals, we are not without encouragement. In particular, our Young
Wives' Fellowship, which has grown in numbers and is quite go ahead; also the
Youth Club has managed to keep going for two years now, though its attachment
to the church is rather tenuous. From our point of view it is worthwhile as
offering a point of contact with our local youth. The fortnightly Bible study
is encouraging and seems to be appreciated by those who attend and by those who
share by means of the tape recorder. The studies have drawn several friends
from the Baptist Church in the village. We rejoice in this coming together.
During the year on one occasion the Baptist Congregation came to a service of
Evening Prayer and on another our congregation joined in worship at the Baptist
Church. The Mothers' Union, Women's Fellowship and Junior Church continue much
as they have done in other years but within the membership of the church there
is a growing readiness to serve.
The church accounts and the
annual Garden Fete which, for some years, had been among the Vicar's
responsibilities, have been taken over by able members of the congregation. We
held a Flower Festival over the August Bank Holiday for the second year. This
was a great success and brought hundreds to see our lovely old church and, we
trust, to worship God and praise him for his handiwork in nature and for the
skills of man. Recently a party of our ladies started the task of making
embroidered kneelers for the church. Another group made up Christmas Cards to sell
in aid of the restoration of the church. Thus it can be seen that interest and
active participation grows.
During the year the two large
dormer windows on the north side of the church have been restored and this
means that we are now able to concentrate on the interior. All that has been
done to restore the church fabric was urgent but nothing like as apparent as
will be the interior. If all goes well the appearance of the church inside will
be worthy of so ancient and historic a place of worship.
The passing centuries have
established this season of Christmas as a sign of world-wide significance,
speaking of the coming of God into the world and affairs of men in the t human
person of Jesus, born at Bethlehem and anointed the Cl Saviour of the world.
To those of us for whom the
Bible is the authoritative word of God is found within its pages a revelation
of God in the person of Jesus Christ whose coming was foretold hundreds of
years before the event. Among those who prophesied this coming none spoke with
greater clarity than the Prophet Isaiah a man of learning, culture and deep
religious experience. He recorded God as saying, in reference to the coming
One: 'Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delight I
have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice the the nations . . .
I will lead the blind in a way that they know not, in paths that they have not
known will I guide the I will turn the darkness before them into light, the
rough place into level ground. These things I will do and I will not forsake
them". Isa. 42: 1 and 16.
To read the chapters in the
second half of Isaiah as a message from God to man is to set oneself free from
the frustration, uncertainty and hopelessness that characterises so much of
this modern world. In the foregoing selections in particular there is God's
invitation to know the Source of true peace with justice and to experience in
one's daily life that providence which marks out a clear pathway and lightens
it as we go.
As we grow older the years
seem to pass ever more quickly. With the closing of 1966 we look back with
gratitude at the many mercies of the Lord for our own well-being and for much
fellowship with Christians. With this our news and views we send our Christmas
Greetings and sincere good wishes for 1967.
Hilda and Montague H. Knott.
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