Christmas Voices is a sweet little book. Its tasteful burgundy red cover is reminiscent of a premium quality Christmas card adorned with golden holly, trumpets and a Christmas star. At 150 pages long, the compact size would fit nicely through the average letter box, making it the sort of cheerful gift I would post out to a friend along with a personalised note.
Christmas Voices is ideal for those who enjoy pausing to reflect for a few minutes each day in the run up to Christmas Day or over their Christmas break. To that end the book is divided up into 25 daily readings which include some of the more traditional elements of Christmas such as bible readings, festive carols, poems and prayers. Each day includes a short reflection sensitively written by author, and host of the Woman Alive Book Club, Claire Musters. Claire’s writing is born out of life experience, it is thoughtful, helpful but never heavy. I can relate to every word she writes on Day 12! She says this:
“It can be difficult to think about joy when we are going through testing times. I have wrestled with God about this myself and am now convinced there is a joy that surpasses our earthly circumstances that God wants us to experience. One of the ways that we tap into it is through honest conversation with him.
In my own struggles I have often turned to the psalms, particularly those written by David. His writing, like the story of Hannah, seems to give us permission to be honest. David is up front about his emotions, his circumstances and his questions, but also speaks to his soul and acknowledges the sovereignty of God. He often turns to worship even in the midst of lament, which is something I have learned to do.
So much in our world has been shaken in recent years and for those of us who have lived in relative safety and prosperity, it has been a shock. In this psalm (30:5-8,11-12), David reflects on how invincible he had felt when everything was going well, it is all too easy to forget to rely on God when all seems to be ticking along fine. Pain reminds us to cry out to him.
David faced a range of highs and lows in his life – a successful king, he also had moments when he had to run for his life and when he endured God’s judgement. So his line ‘Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning’ seems to hold a wider, eternal perspective.”
Published by the Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) Christmas Voices is a warm and friendly book with additional insights and comments from 40 contributors from diverse backgrounds. Its clear, user-friendly structure makes it easy to dip in and out off between the hustle and bustle of the festive season.
Main Photo Credit: Val Fraser
Review: Christmas Voices
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Christmas Voices is a sweet little book. Its tasteful burgundy red cover is reminiscent of a premium quality Christmas card adorned with golden holly, trumpets and a Christmas star. At 150 pages long, the compact size would fit nicely through the average letter box, making it the sort of cheerful gift I would post out to a friend along with a personalised note.
Christmas Voices is ideal for those who enjoy pausing to reflect for a few minutes each day in the run up to Christmas Day or over their Christmas break. To that end the book is divided up into 25 daily readings which include some of the more traditional elements of Christmas such as bible readings, festive carols, poems and prayers. Each day includes a short reflection sensitively written by author, and host of the Woman Alive Book Club, Claire Musters. Claire’s writing is born out of life experience, it is thoughtful, helpful but never heavy. I can relate to every word she writes on Day 12! She says this:
“It can be difficult to think about joy when we are going through testing times. I have wrestled with God about this myself and am now convinced there is a joy that surpasses our earthly circumstances that God wants us to experience. One of the ways that we tap into it is through honest conversation with him.
In my own struggles I have often turned to the psalms, particularly those written by David. His writing, like the story of Hannah, seems to give us permission to be honest. David is up front about his emotions, his circumstances and his questions, but also speaks to his soul and acknowledges the sovereignty of God. He often turns to worship even in the midst of lament, which is something I have learned to do.
So much in our world has been shaken in recent years and for those of us who have lived in relative safety and prosperity, it has been a shock. In this psalm (30:5-8,11-12), David reflects on how invincible he had felt when everything was going well, it is all too easy to forget to rely on God when all seems to be ticking along fine. Pain reminds us to cry out to him.
David faced a range of highs and lows in his life – a successful king, he also had moments when he had to run for his life and when he endured God’s judgement. So his line ‘Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning’ seems to hold a wider, eternal perspective.”
Published by the Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) Christmas Voices is a warm and friendly book with additional insights and comments from 40 contributors from diverse backgrounds. Its clear, user-friendly structure makes it easy to dip in and out off between the hustle and bustle of the festive season.
Main Photo Credit: Val Fraser
Val Fraser
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