Needles

On my walk across the fields this week, I got caught on a bush and a long splinter embedded itself in my hand. I pulled most of it out with my teeth, dug some more of it out with a needle and left nature to take its course. A couple of days later a scab had formed over the hole I'd made, but it was very tender to the touch.  I decided to have another needle dig and expel the remaining bit of the thorn. That was reasonably easy and almost painless and I began to ask myself why I am so averse to needles being stuck into me. Inspecting the tiny bit of thorn, I realised how incredible it is that our bodies can sense an intrusion however minuscule. Intending to put the needle back in the reel of cotton I discovered that it was nowhere to be seen.  Having performed my minor operation whilst sitting in bed, I was mystified as to where the needle had gone. Carefully moving the quilt revealed nothing and checking my pyjamas was also a fruitless search. I leaned down to look at the carpet and felt a sharp pain under my armpit. The needle had fallen into my sleeve and as I lifted the quilt, it must have dropped down and lodged itself under my arm. That was when I remembered why I am so averse to needles being stuck into me.

Injections are very much in people's consciousness at the moment. Views on them vary enormously and only time will tell which perspectives were nearest to the truth.

In the meantime it is good to remind ourselves how fearfully and wonderfully we are made (Psalm 139)  The same Psalm explains that whether we are flying to a foreign country or lying in bed in the darkness, God's hand will lead us and hold us fast.  In 2020 I flew to the other side of the earth and enjoyed every moment of it. In 2020 I lay crying in my bed in the darkness and hated it. In both situations I was safe in God's hands and I am very thankful.

 

Needless needles again.

I ought to take my Christmas tree down. I've removed the large garland in the lounge that threatened the life of everyone over 5' 2"/ I've unthreaded the rather tasteless tinsel which I threaded through my curtain eyelets and I've dispensed with the golden garland around my very nice picture over the fire place. But the tree is going to make such a mess and although I'm used to mess, it usually happens gradually as people leave things where they shouldn't be left, rather than me deliberately doing it. I bought some of that 'drapey' tinsel and draped it and when I undrape it, some of it is going to jam the vacuum cleaner. My tree is fake but the needles still drop off. My tree is in a corner. It's a whole tree but instead of putting the branches all the way round as is customary, I take the ones from the back and intersperse them round the front to make the tree look more fulsome. (I do love the word fulsome, as long as it is not applied to me.) I fasten the extra branches with those cable ties which when you tighten them up are impossible to slide a pair of scissors inside and wont snap unless you desperately need them not to. When you have just fought with an entire rose bush and gathered the branches in your now bleeding hands so you can fasten them together - then the cable ties snap. When you want to dismantle your fulsome tree, they don't snap. I would use my teeth, but thanks to Thornton's Special Toffee, I have fewer of those every Christmas.
Remembering the order in which you put your lights and your tinsel on the tree is a crucial factor in successful dismantling. I use a net of lights and throw it over the tree before applying baubles and tinsel.  Trying to get the two spikey thin metal wires back inside a bauble when the top has pinged off, is another challenge I do not relish. It is another of the many jobs that make your fingers bleed at Christmas.
I have decided to leave my tree up for another day.

Needless needles

A friend just asked if her tree would still be green by New Year if she put it up now. The old song came to mind, "O Christmas O Christmas tree, forever green your branches. Your leaves so green in summer time, stay bravely green in winter time.. etc " I told my friend to hairspray the needles, which I seem to think I once read was a good idea, although it may have been to do with fixing pastels on a drawing, I can't quite remember the details.
It got me thinking about Christmas itself and whether it will last 'til New Year. I think, like the hairspray information, many people enjoy Christmas but can't quite remember the details. They know it has to do with giving presents AKA going into more debt, and also there is a lot of food and drink involved. Aside from that there is something religious about its origins to do with a baby in Bethlehem but as all Christians are hypocrites, (we think, although we can't quite remember the details) we will reserve Jesus as a swear word for severe situations requiring a particularly forceful expletive.
I love Christmas and actually, I can remember the details. For me the joy and truth of Christmas lasts all year. The story that God became a man and lived on earth from conception to his premature death on a cross, still holds tremendous meaning. The Saviour of the world has rescued me from a life of  needless worry, of needless expense, of needless fear. If you can't quite remember the details of how that happens, dust off your Bible and read one of the Gospels. I believe God came to earth at Christmas to bring meaning to your life every day and I can assure you it lasts way beyond new year, with or without hairspray.