{"id":27015,"date":"2024-12-01T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T09:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/?p=27015"},"modified":"2024-11-28T16:56:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T16:56:15","slug":"letter-from-revd-andrea-colbrook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/?p=27015","title":{"rendered":"Letter from Revd Andrea Colbrook"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Dear Friends,<br \/>\nAs the days grow shorter and we enter this special season, I want to extend a heartfelt invitation to rediscover the magic of Christmas together. This year, let\u2019s embrace the wonder, joy, and fun that make this season so memorable\u2014not just for children, but for all of us. It\u2019s a time to reconnect, to celebrate, and to remember the joy of being part of something larger than ourselves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rediscovering the Magic of Christmas<br \/>\n<\/strong>In Bethlehem\u2019s hush, under starlit sky,<br \/>\nA silent night whispered, a lullaby,<br \/>\nThrough ages foretold in words pure and clear,<br \/>\nOf hope\u2019s tender promise, now drawing near.<br \/>\nA humble stable, a makeshift bed,<br \/>\nWhere soft hay cradled the Saviour\u2019s head,<br \/>\nAs oxen stood guard, and lambs huddled close,<br \/>\nIn awe of the child who brought light to the lost.<br \/>\nThe wise men travelled from lands far and wide,<br \/>\nLed by a star they could not deny,<br \/>\nWith gifts for a king born gentle and small,<br \/>\nGold, frankincense, myrrh, the treasures of all.<br \/>\nThe shepherds left flocks, guided by song,<br \/>\nBy angelic voices so joyous and strong,<br \/>\nThey came with their wonder, in reverent array,<br \/>\nTo see the new-born asleep in the hay.<br \/>\nAnd Mary kept still, her heart full of grace,<br \/>\nAs heaven\u2019s pure love lit her tired face;<br \/>\nShe gazed on her child with eyes soft and deep,<br \/>\nAnd marvelled at mysteries she could not speak.<br \/>\nOh, magic of Christmas, of peace that descends,<br \/>\nOn hearts seeking love, on strangers and friends,<br \/>\nA story of joy, of a love unearned,<br \/>\nOf hope\u2019s gentle flame forever returned.<br \/>\nSo, each year we gather, by candle and tree,<br \/>\nRecalling that night, so holy, so free,<br \/>\nWith wonder we sing of the Child, now grown,<br \/>\nThe magic of Christmas forever our own.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Have a truly blessed Christmas, Andrea, Rector.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Friends, As the days grow shorter and we enter this special season, I want to extend a heartfelt invitation to rediscover the magic of Christmas together. This year, let\u2019s embrace the wonder, joy, and fun that make this season so memorable\u2014not just for children, but for all of us. It\u2019s a time to reconnect,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[394,4,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent-and-christmas","category-community","category-news","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27016,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27015\/revisions\/27016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}