AS YOU read this, you may well be heaving a sigh of relief that Christmas is over!

Well, yes and no. In church, our year starts four Sundays before Christmas and begins the season of Advent — and then Christmas itself lasts for 12 days (remember the carol?). So technically we are still in the Christmas season until 6 January — the Feast of the Epiphany when we remember the arrival of the Wise Men.

The purists would probably like me to mention that in the Bible we are not told how many there were, only that three gifts were brought, and that they saw Jesus in a house, not in the stable. Does that matter? Not really, I suppose. But there are many parts of the Bible where it matters hugely that we know what it says. For example, the common quote is, “Money is the root of all evil” whereas the Bible says, “Love of money is the root of all evil.”

There are other equally important examples too, where the context of the writing can radically change the meaning. What about, “Women should be silent in Church”, commonly understood for centuries to prevent women taking any active role in leading worship. The context was to women, who for the first time ever, were expected to attend and listen carefully, not to chatter during the service as they might have done beforehand. Armed with this information the instruction to be silent becomes an instruction to be included, not excluded.

We now approach a new year. The resolutions will be in hearts and minds. How about a resolution to look for truth — carefully, honestly and in all situations — alongside, quite naturally, resolving to speak the truth — no gossip, no innuendoes and no false news?

Shalom.

Rev Canon Jill Bentall, Retired C of E Vicar