Our Area Staff letter for December 2021

Dear friends,

As I sit writing this letter to you all I am reminded by the weather of how the seasons progress through our lives. Last night we put our clocks back an hour rising this morning in expectation of a light and bright morning. But no, it was dark and dismal until ten thirtyish. All of a sudden the sun shone brightly through the church windows dazzling everyone inside. All this helped me to focus on this December letter. As we approach the celebration of the arrival of the Christ child into our world, and probably more importantly into our lives, we spend Advent preparing ourselves to greet Christ.

In preparing any letter or talk about Jesus I always try to place myself in his time so that I can attempt to understand something of what he was talking about, in the context of the world as it was then. How would the people of Jesus’ time have seen today? Would they have been able to comprehend the freedom we have? Would changing the hour on the clocks make them smile and say “you cannot change the weather or the happenings of the seasons”? Could they take on board the busyness of our lives?

As the people struggled under the weight of the Roman occupation the promise from the Prophets of better things to come must have seemed like a bright beacon before their eyes something to look forward to, a promise of freedom, a promise of light and the fulfilment of God’s covenant with his people.

When you read this letter will we be in similar circumstances? Listening to the experts on the news and in the papers it would appear we are heading for a time of severe shortages. With the aftereffects of the pandemic still hovering over us are we in a similar position to the people of Jesus’ time? The threat of another lockdown looming over us. The rising numbers of infections. Seeing the nurses and doctors straining to cope.

The times of darkness seem to be all about us, but, as Pip says in Dickens novel, we have “great expectations” in the fact that God has never ever turned away from us and always pours out his unconditional love on us all the time, in the sending of his Son, Jesus, born in a dark and oppressed time, in a dark and dismal stable to bring us all hope and love, not just over the Christmas period but in all our lives.

All God’s blessings. Chris.

Revd. Chris Brown