Happy New Year! This is often a time for looking forward and back - to the year that has just gone and the year that is to come. This time last year we were going into a long and hard lockdown, and I think that’s one reason why last year is so hard to remember. Those long weeks of last winter and early spring when we were all at home mean that we missed those events we mark the time by, and it just seems a blur.

The Omicron variant means that we start this year wondering what the next few weeks will hold, and looking at the ever-rising case numbers with great anxiety. However, I’m finding it helps me to remember that this time last year we were not able to meet together in church, that we could not worship God together and that the idea of singing was just a dream. Things have changed, and I’m holding on to the hope that beyond the next few weeks things may improve again.

I’m beginning to think about our activities this year. I was very encouraged to have so many people who aren’t regular churchgoers in church in the weeks before Christmas, and at the PCC we shall be thinking about how we can extend our welcome. Before long it will be time to start planning for Lent and Easter, the great cycle of the year that assures us that death has been defeated, and out of suffering and despair comes bright hope.

That’s encapsulated for me by a picture I took just before the new year, looking out of the window of my brother in law’s house. There’s a grey and sky, full of heavy clouds, looking grey and ominous. But on the brow of the hill, against the dark grey cloud, there’s a sliver of sunlight: a line of gold. For me this is an image of our yearning for God in the face of all the troubles that we bear, and an image of the hope that he brings us. This new year, may he be beside you, bringing his loving presence close to you, and leading you towards the promise of light and hope that he brings.

with my prayers and blessings, Nicola