The camels are coming...........

This Christmas 2022 the Christmas cards were very sporadic in arriving due to the postal strike…… in fact it is now mid January 2023 and we have just received one from someone we knew well during our YWAM days……. it didn’t seem too out of order as it was at least a picture of the Kings arriving on camels which of course we all know happened way after the events in Bethlehem. It did bring a smile though as it reminded me of one we had through the door before Christmas from a family we had known very well during our Loughborough days……. now back in the town running a church…………. they had signed the card with the words “the camels are coming” and a bible reference for Genesis 24. I was intrigued, especially as there had been a story on the news that day of three camels escaping from a planned outdoor nativity in Brisbane Australia and stopping the traffic as they ran down the highway in search of grass!!

We laughed about the camel story that Sunday at Storm Church and as we are thinking of doing a live nativity ourselves in 2023 one of the team looked up how much it would cost to hire a camel……… apparently current rates are around £1000…….. think we might stick to sheep owned by a friend of ours!! Although having recently re watched Nativity! (one of my favourite Christmas films) it is a tempting thought to have some camels……… LOVE the scene where at the last minute they have decided to go ahead with the Nativity performance in the grounds of Coventry Cathedral and they somehow manage to acquire 3 camels for the three Kings to ride in on…… how art mirrors life!! not!

Anyway back to my Christmas card and the words “the camels are coming”…….. it refers to that moment when Isaac is mourning the recent death of his mother, aware that his father is also elderly and frail and soon he will be on his own and everything will be his responsibility. He looks up to see some camels in the distance and knows that they will be bringing good things for his future well being…….. his servant is returning with a lovely wife for him who will become his partner in the days that lie ahead. And of course provisions ………..camels represent the arrival of deliveries of longed for goods and people………. a bit like when the Amazon delivery man knocks on your door!! or the Scillonian arrives in St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly…….. great moments!

Which brings me back to those Kings bring their gifts to the infant Jesus and the words “the camels are coming”………. we maybe need to lift our eyes to see them on the horizon bringing some longed for provisions……. all that we need to do 2023 well……. as we learn to ‘hope in God not in outcomes’ and ‘lift our eyes and look about’ us……. ‘then we will look and be radiant, our hearts will ……swell with joy….. as herds of camels will cover our land’ (Isaiah 60) “the camels are coming”!!! Here’s to an amazing 2023!!

Revie G 20.1.23