Introduction If the work of the Incarnation was for God to become human, then maybe the task we have before us is to become Godly. To recognise that when many people look for God in our world, they see people of faith and expect that – in some way – we will be like God. Which is fair enough, because Christians are called to be Christ-like. This is an extraordinary responsibility. One only made palatable and possible through the knowledge and the promise that God is with us, even in our weakness. It is partly through us that the great story of God’s risky, vulnerable, profligate love continues to be told. In our lives and our decisions and our empathy and our honesty, God is revealed. And, of course, through our words. Through our stories. This is a book of stories. Stories about Jesus and the people he interacted with. Stories that try to bring to new life the old stories of the Bible. Stories that place Jesus in a contemporary Australian landscape. Stories that try to suggest that what happened then could have happened now. That God is not limited to one place and time. This is a book of stories about Holy Days. Most official church-sanctioned Holy Days have become ‘holidays’ for most of us. Days when the world used to pause to remember the great work of God in ceremony, feast and party, have become days of rest. Although there is still ceremony, feast and party to enjoy if we choose. Of course, ‘rest’ is holy too! 1
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