Tim Woodcock writes... Though I had heard the Stevie Wonder song “Someday at Christmas” before, I didn’t really pay it much attention until I heard it on “the Uncle Lanny mix” about 20 years. Let me explain. Uncle Lanny is my wife’s uncle who lives in the Boston area; 20 years back, he gave us a CD, burned from his computer, of Christmas music. In my immediate family, it’s become a tradition of many years standing to start Advent, the countdown to Christmas, by listening to this CD (although nowadays the music is organized as a Spotify playlist).   It starts with Nat King Cole singing about chestnuts roasting over an open fire, then Elvis Presley is experiencing a Blue Christmas – standard stuff but it’s a tastefully curated mix of Christmas hits. The song that always catches my ear, the song that always makes me catch my breath, is Stevie Wonder’s version of “Some Day at Christmas.” The song begins this way: Someday at Christmas men won't be boys Playing with bombs...

This talk was given in a recent chaplaincy assembly by Dr. Andrew Davies, a colleague of mine at St. Louis Priory School. Andrew has a background in astrophysics and he uses this knowledge to underpin his talk which encouraged students to think about what their guiding light is. This talk was so powerful that I thought it deserved a greater audience beyond those in the school community. Thank you for agree it share it, Andrew. (Tim Woodcock) When I was a college student, I gave shows in the school planetarium to the public, talking about what was visible in the night sky that evening.  This season of Advent, I am often reminded of the most popular question I got when I gave planetarium shows in December: “What exactly was the Star of Bethlehem?” This question has two answers: a short one and a long one. The short answer: we don’t know. Boring, but truthful. But, since my students know the best way to distract me in class is to get me talking about Astronomy, I’m going to give you...

In response to a request for Christmas songs, Ellie Stock shared a song of her own, which was written in the 1970s during the Advent season. While not obviously a Christmas song at first glance, the lyrics explore themes highly relevant to Advent: unfolding mysteries, “chosen-ness,” and the fullness of time. Ellie is currently revisiting many of her previous songs, tweaking them and converting handwritten musical scores into electronic files. Thanks for sharing – and perhaps we can hear it performed at some point.