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I’ve just bought my ‘Christmassy’ book. It’s always around the start of Advent when I start to purchase the pile of books I intend to read over the holiday. Even if I won’t read half of them in reality. There’s usually a classic in the mix. This year it’s Tolstoy’s The death of Ivan Ilyich. Then some philosophy and theology: I’ve opted for Quentin Lauer’s Hegel’s Concept of God. Yes, I thought you’d be impressed. It arrived yesterday and the cover, adorned with 1980’s typography, is bashed at the corners in the way that Amazon seems to do best. But I’m eager to start it nevertheless. Susan Sontag’s On Photography is waiting for me in the art theory category and I’ll most likely be finishing off Hisham Matar’s wonderful memoir The Return.
Yet these books alone aren’t sufficiently Christmassy for my few days of über Hygge. So I’ve secured a copy of Jeanette’s Winterson’s Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days. It’s a rather clunky title but based on her children’s book The Lion, the Unicorn and Me, which she published in 2009, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. This new collection of short stories is interspersed with seasonal recipes from Winterson’s celebrity friends. I might attempt some of the food if I can hoist myself up from the sofa but it’s the magical quality of her wintery tales that I’m most looking forward to. Of course I’ll also have to consult the ‘books of the year’ summary in the weekend papers to see if I’ve made any glaring omissions in my festive reading list. If you have any other good suggestions please let me know.
And on the theme of ‘Christmassy’ we have our Christingle service at 9.30 on Sunday morning plus our Annual International Carol Service at 6pm. As always there will be mulled wine and Stollen afterwards.
The Revd Alan Ramsey
Acting Priest-in-charge
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| | Services
—Tuesdays & Thursdays at 12.15pm
Lunchtime Eucharist —
Sunday 4th December Second Sunday of Advent 10.30am - Sung Eucharist
Preacher - The Revd Bruce Kinsey, Chaplain of Balliol College
6pm - International Carol Service The annual International Advent Carol service with the German Lutheran Congregation. Readings, Choral music and Advent hymns, followed by refreshments in the Adam de Brome Chapel.
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| | Advent Appeal
Oxford Food Bank is hosting a giant Christmas Dinner. The guests will be families struggling to cope with the cost of Christmas, people who would otherwise be on their own, homeless people and others on the breadline. We have been asked to help with providing presents. We aim to fill 50 washbags with toiletries, socks, underwear, torches and a few treats like chocolate. We also hope to fill 40 rucksacks with presents for children. Any contribution of any item or any cash donation will help us reach our target.
Please go to the Adam de Brome chapel after the service for full details and to pick up a washbag or rucksack to fill. Thank you.
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| | | | | | Forthcoming Concerts & Other Events
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| | | Poetry Corner
Quiet Nights
I go to sleep on one beach,
wake up on another.
Boat all fitted out,
tugging against its rope.
Raymond Carver (A New Path to the Waterfall, 1989)
This tiny poem is by that master of brevity, the (usually) short story writer Raymond Carver. It is a marvellously ambiguous poem. Is the boat, ready to go and ‘tugging’ in eagerness, going to take the speaker on an adventure, or to maroon him? These quiet nights are far from uneventful; they are, in fact, where stories happen. To me, then, this is a glass-half-full sort of poem – a poem about possibility and exploration.
We hugely enjoyed Dr Clare Pollard’s talk last Wednesday on Japanese poetry prints, which concluded our series, The Muse. It was an inspiring and wide-ranging programme, and we are very much looking forward to Hilary term’s series on liberalism.
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