When I was very small I use to watch ‘Bill and Ben the Flowerpot men.’ They lived in the garden with Little Weed. They only came out to play when the gardener went indoors for his dinner. So there was a tension, ‘watch out Bill and Ben, the gardener might return at any moment.’ Now I never saw the gardener but he left things behind in the garden which I could see and from Bill and Ben’s reaction he was someone to be feared.

Now I think that’s probably how many people think of God. Unseen, unknown, remote and the fun only starts when he’s away. But God hasn’t stayed off camera. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and Jesus is his name.