{"id":12825,"date":"2020-12-19T07:57:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T06:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archive.richardlittledale.co.uk\/?p=12825"},"modified":"2020-12-19T07:57:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T06:57:44","slug":"the-christmas-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/2020\/12\/19\/the-christmas-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christmas Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new story for Christmas<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There is a tree on Greenham Common which has inspired me in many of the hardest moments in recent years.\u00a0 At some point it has been all but blown flat by a storm.\u00a0 However,. It keeps on growing and flourishing despite the odds.\u00a0 I call it \u2018The Courage Tree\u2019, and the stone on which this story is based was found tangled in its upturned roots.<\/p>\n

\"Tree\"<\/p>\n

Many many hundreds, or probably thousands, of years ago, a big piece of rock was formed from lots of tiny bits of things left behind.\u00a0As the years went by, the big piece got broken up into smaller pieces, and one of them found itself in a field of wheat.\u00a0 Nobody knew the stone was there when the wheat was sown.\u00a0 Nobody knew it was there when the bright green stalks pushed up through the earth.\u00a0 Nobody knew it was there when the green stalks ripened and turned to gold, like the sun.\u00a0 Nobody knew it was there when the stalks were cut and tossed on a heap to dry.\u00a0 Nobody knew it was there when the heap was taken from the back of a cart and spread on a stable floor, but that is where our story began.<\/p>\n

The stable was not a big place.\u00a0 Its walls were rough and bore the scars of many a hoof and the sheen of many a woolly coat.\u00a0 There was room for one or two animals, a manger, and not much else.Tonight was different though.\u00a0 Tonight, it was busy and full.\u00a0 Tonight, the animals were quiet, and the humans were noisy.\u00a0 The little human was especially noisy.\u00a0 The man and woman had come into the stable for shelter earlier that night, looking so very tired.\u00a0 And now the little human was there \u2013 a baby boy all tiny and new.\u00a0 His mum wrapped him in some cloths, and his dad looked around for somewhere to lay him.<\/p>\n

He spotted the old manger, propped up against the wall, and thought it would do just fine.\u00a0 He was not to know that it had one wonky leg.\u00a0 Pushed up against the wall, it was sturdy, and everyone could feed from it.\u00a0 Out in the middle of the tiny stable, though, it wobbled and wobbled every time the little baby moved.\u00a0 His mum was worried, in case he should fall out \u2013 and that would never do!\u00a0Looking around, the man spotted our stone lying in the straw.\u00a0 He picked it up, weighed it in his hand, polished it against his clothes, and slid it under the wobbly leg.\u00a0 It was a perfect fit!\u00a0 The manger wobbled no more and the baby boy slept peacefully with a smile on his little scrunched up face as special visitors came and went.\u00a0 The baby\u2019s name was Jesus, and one day he would be like a rock to many people the whole world over.\u00a0 For tonight, though \u2013 the little rock helped him out.<\/p>\n

After that, the day would come when the young couple with their baby would leave, the manger would be pushed back up against the wall, and the straw would be swept up and thrown out.\u00a0 I suppose our little stone went with it.\u00a0 Wherever it landed next, one day it would find itself rattling here and there in the hold of a sailing ship.\u00a0 After that a cart, a pocket, a hole in that pocket, and a long, long sleep in the soft earth of an English common.<\/p>\n

Now, it is here in my hand as I write this story for you\u2026<\/p>\n

__<\/p>\n

You can also watch a video of the story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"STONE1\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new story for Christmas There is a tree on Greenham Common which has inspired me in many of the hardest moments in recent years.\u00a0 At some point it has been all but blown flat by a storm.\u00a0 However,. It … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12825"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12825"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12830,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12825\/revisions\/12830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}