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42 Phonebox Magazine | January 2025Newport Pagnell (CTNP)What was the last pantomime that you went to see? Many people have fond memories of them and families still love going to see (and join in with!) a pantomime, especially just before Christmas or up to a couple of months afterwards. A few years ago someone re-wrote the Christmas story as pantomime. And indeed, King Herod makes a fantastic pantomime baddie, so everyone can hiss and boo and have a great time. And the nativity story has a happy ending (for Jesus and his family for a time at least) and we can all go home happy and secure. Because in many ways pantomime is deliberately disconnected from real life. In pantomime it is abundantly clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, and who are the clowns, and who are the innocent ones caught up in the plot, and crucially you know what is going to happen, for the story line is pretty much fi xed and noone good is really hurt and no-one is really bad, not even the arch-baddy, and they all live happily ever after. In the end, it%u2019s for kids, and the adults have fun too. But it%u2019s not reality. It%u2019s an escape. And that%u2019s ok, because it is good to sometimes escape from reality for a while, because reality can be unbearably bruising and hard to face. And so we also need to take some time out to have our batteries recharged so that we can, the next day, face reality again.But there are risks in treating the Christmas story as if it is a pantomime. Because at its heart, it is the very opposite of a pantomime: it is the reality of God breaking in to the reality of life on Earth so that we can do the same. Real life involves real people, who behave according to who they are. People are not cardboard cut-out characters who behave according to the narrow demands of a plot story line. Everyone is a mix of good and bad and often what we do is balanced on a knifeedge and no-one knows for sure what they will do, or what others around them will do, or what will happen when we are all interacting together. History has happened and it has unfolded the way it has. But at the time, as it was happening, no-one knew what would happen next at any point. That was true then, as it is now. Tyrants and self-centred leaders were real, and are real, and there was no guarantee, and there is no guarantee, that standing against them and with and for the little ones they squash, will result in a happy ending any time soon. Too often those befriending the little ones also get squashed. But time and again people in the Bible and today fi nd that God is with them when they are getting squashed. And surprising things happen! A short time after Jesus was born, three foreign spiritual leaders turned up looking for the new King anointed by God! What an Epiphany! What a surprising revelation! Not my Plan A! Nor King Herod%u2019s! And chaos and grief ensued! But God knows what God is doing, and come what may God persists with God%u2019s own unbreakable resolution to human beings, especially the most squashed.So this New Year, let%u2019s open our eyes to look out for surprises! For when God is with those who are being squashed. And for when God is calling us to make a New Year-long resolution to be with them too.Dave Haseldine, Minister (Presbyter) in the Milton Keynes Methodist Circuit. Olney Baptist ChurchWe have all walked through the door of a New Year with the opportunity for a fresh start that it brings along with the hope that many of the confl icts of 2024 might end in 2025 in reconciliation. It reminds me of what has become known as the door of reconciliation which is to be found Dublin Cathedral. This refers to a reconciliation that took place between two warring chieftains back in the middle ages. According to the story there had been a long running feud between two local chiefs and their families which eventually resulted in the murder of one of the chiefs close relatives. As a result the chief who%u2019s family was responsible fl ed for fear of his life to the cathedral in which he claimed sanctuary while his enemies waited for him to come out so they could extract their revenge. After many days of waiting in the cathedral and thinking about the years of bitter confl ict between their two families the chief decided that the time had come to end the feud. So he cut a hole in the door just big enough for him to put his arm through after which he called out to the other chief still waiting outside. %u2018I am tried of all this fi ghting and confl ict that is between us, let us make peace instead%u2019. As a sign of his good intent the chief went onto say that he would put out his arm through the hole in the door and the other chief could either shake his hand as a sign of peace or he could cut it off as a sign that he wished to continue the feud. With much relief the chief found that his arm was not cut off but used instead to shake the hand of his enemy and so make peace. This story became so famous that it gave rise to the use of a phrase which is still in use today %u2018to chance your arm%u2019.We have just fi nished celebrating Christmas when we were reminded of God%u2019s gift of love in Jesus to a world that was confl ict with him. When Jesus grew up he did not chance his arm, but sacrificed himself so that there could be an end to the confl ict between God and man through Jesus off er of forgiveness. As we have walked through the door of the New Year why not walk through God%u2019s door of reconciliation, it is wide open. Rev. Stuart J. Macdonald Minister Olney Baptist ChurchChurches TogetherOur group meets monthly at The Olney Centre where anyone who feels alone can drop in and spend an hour in the company of others away from their four walls.What a lovely afternoon was had by all %u2013 decorating Christmas hats causing a giggle had everyone in stitches when putting them on for a group photo. Then we had fun with Sprout bingo with the buff et served followed by a Christmas raffl e.Big thanks to Alex and Erika at Sandwich Land for making all the sandwiches.It was so good to see everyone enjoying themselves.Looking to 2025 if you know anyone who could benefi t from spending some time in the company of others then do please let them know of Tea and Chat. For further details please contact me directly - Debbie Whitworth.Tea and Chat Christmas Party