I wrote this for broadcast on Downtown this morning, but anyone who heard it either didn’t get much sleep last night, or else they were only just going to bed at the time… But increasingly I come across people who take no part in New Year's Eve festivities, but simply go to bed as normal on the 31st of December, and wake up at the normal time in a brand New Year…
And there is a fundamental question at the back of that: what’s the big thing about a change of year?
So often I hear people say, with a heartfelt sign, that they’re glad to see the back of the previous year because of the tale of woe that they experienced during it… yet the truth is that disaster and woe cannot be corralled by calendar months or years... but neither are God’s blessings to us…
Throughout the Christmas season, in songs and readings we repeatedly hear Jesus being described as “Emmanuel” which means “God with us.” But that doesn’t just apply to this time of year... To high days and holidays… it also applies to low days and dark days… God is not just with us in the times when we are surrounded with tinsel and twinkling lights, but also when we find ourselves in the straw and stench of a stable, far from home and with no place to call our own…
And there is a fundamental question at the back of that: what’s the big thing about a change of year?
So often I hear people say, with a heartfelt sign, that they’re glad to see the back of the previous year because of the tale of woe that they experienced during it… yet the truth is that disaster and woe cannot be corralled by calendar months or years... but neither are God’s blessings to us…
Throughout the Christmas season, in songs and readings we repeatedly hear Jesus being described as “Emmanuel” which means “God with us.” But that doesn’t just apply to this time of year... To high days and holidays… it also applies to low days and dark days… God is not just with us in the times when we are surrounded with tinsel and twinkling lights, but also when we find ourselves in the straw and stench of a stable, far from home and with no place to call our own…
Wherever you may find yourself throughout this year and beyond may you know that Jesus is Emmanuel… God with you…
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