IN the last year, I've taken the funerals of three parents of schoolchildren, each aged 41. I'm acutely aware how difficult this Christmas will be for their families, and the toll that these bereavements have taken on our community, and indeed how difficult Christmas will be for the families of all those bereaved in the past year.

With the bereaved, there's not very much that one can say, and so a person's simple presence, and prayers, can be the most precious gift — just being with someone, staying with them, accompanying them, in a very difficult time.

Amazingly, this precious presence is just what we're given at Christmas — God's full and simple presence in the baby Jesus. Jesus doesn't have to say anything (apart from the odd inevitable cry — 'Little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes'? Don't you believe it!) - the time for words will come — as week by week, the church listens to Jesus' teaching and tries to understand it. For now, God's full and simple presence is precious enough, staying with us, accompanying us, holding us, in all the ups and downs of human life.

I hope that in your heart this Christmas, you'll feel that precious presence of God in Jesus, staying with you, accompanying you, holding you, and that you'll be intrigued this new year to come and hear his words, when the time for words comes. So, on behalf of all the ministers and churches of Tavistock, I wish you a deeply happy Christmas and new year.

The Rev Michael Brierley

Priest in charge of Tavistock and Gulworthy