The Bishop of Crediton has said one of the most special parts of Christmas for her is singing carols, although she takes issue with some of the words.
In her Christmas message Rt Rev Moira Astin said she finds “light and healing” when she is singing with others: “As our voices combine together to fill the church with music, my spirit is lifted, and I feel I am held not just by God but by the company of those with whom I am singing. Singing is known to bring physical and psychological benefits. Singing as a group adds a sense of communal wellbeing, and singing carols together helps us to sense deep down that God is with us, individually and together, two millenia on from the events that we celebrate at Christmas.”
Bishop Moira said one of her favourite carols is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, but of others she said, “some have words that seem poorly thought out – I wonder if a real baby Jesus would be recognisable in the phrase from Away in a Manager ‘no crying he makes’. A baby that doesn’t cry is just not realistic!”
The bishop, who has pastoral oversight of North Devon, East Devon and the area around Exeter described seeing the sun rise, thawing the fields near her home in the Exe valley:
“I can get a sense of the meaning of the sun that brings healing. But as Christians we know that this is a metaphor for relationship with God through Jesus Christ. As we sense the presence in our spirits of God, who we have seen most fully in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are warmed inwardly. Despite the pressures and challenges of life, we are held by the everlasting arms of God, and trust that in the words of Julian of Norwich ‘All shall be well’.”