Firstly, may I wish all the regular readers (and those who may be joining us for the first time) of our Blog a very Peaceful and Blessed 2012 and I hope that your Christmas time was very special for you and yours.
As always after a mammoth amount of preparation in terms of food, drink, presents, decorations and time, the actual day itself passes very quickly. We are then soon thrown into the retrospective look at the past year (and what a year it was!) and, given an opportunity to look forward to the next one.
It seems to me that New Year messages have suddenly become all the rage. It’s only Jan 2 and I’ve read or heard them from David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and, possibly the best of all, from Rowan Williams. They all reflect something of where they “are” as people or, more pertinently, as politicians.
The first five people in my list tried to bring in varying degrees of hope for the new year whilst maintaining a “politically sensitive” appreciation that things are tough – you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes (modern or old style) to know that fact. Surely it is all the more important in times of fiscal crises and worries about jobs, homes etc. to somehow bring a message of hope. Unsurprisingly, it was left to Rowan Williams’ message to hit all the right buttons in terms of hope and possibility.
As we launch ourselves into this new year, we will begin with all our hopes, fears, joys and concerns. None of us know exactly what 2012 will bring and it is likely that for all of us there will be a mixture of highs and lows. The wonderful thing for each of us is that we don’t launch out alone. The hope that we have and that will sustain us is found in our understanding of the babe of Bethlehem. I once heard a very famous preacher say that, “the hinge of history is found on a stable door in Bethlehem”. If that is the case, and I believe it is, then it means that this year is one full of hope, possibility and excitement.
I am resolutely a person for whom the glass is always half full and sometimes, it’s full to the brim. But, I’m also a realist who sees the challenges ahead for each of us within our own journeys of faith and for all of our faith communities. For the politicians around us, this year will be terribly difficult, for those people of faith, this year will be full of wonder and hope – thanks be to God.
Every blessing
Jeff Reynolds
