A university professor managed to precisely calculate which day is the most depressing one of the year! This is apparently the third Monday of January every year and it has been given this accolade due to a combination of cold dark nights, the sense that Christmas is over and the arrival of credit card bills with our Christmas spending! 

By the time most people read this, it will be a distant memory, but as I talk to people after two years of the COVID pandemic, there is a level of uncertainty and anxiety which fuels a sense that our world is out of control. It can feel much the same in church with numbers and activities curtailed in  many places and recovery feeling very fragile. Uncertainty in our lives can  make us all feel somewhat anxious about the future, and when we feel that  we are not in control, that can lead to worry and doubt. Jesus reminded his disciples that God understood their needs. 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;  or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the  body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or  reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are  you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying  add a single hour to your life? 
Matthew 6:25-27 

Jesus’ teaching is very simple, as his followers are to live simply a day at a  time and recognise that whatever our circumstances, his love and mercy  offer hope for the future. We are called to look for the Kingdom to find  those places where God is at work in our world and join in. Even when we  do not feel we have anything to offer or the gifts and skills to make a  difference, we can pray, and our presence can be a calming influence. 

We also need to recognise that ultimately, we are not in control. If we call  ourselves Christians, then we have voluntarily passed control of the  direction of our lives over to God. The Holy Spirit lives within each of us to  equip, empower and sustain us on the journey of faith and to be a guide for  daily living. Paul understood better than most what trouble and anxiety  mean, yet he wrote one of the most encouraging passages in the New  Testament.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor heavenly  rulers neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor  depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the  love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 
Romans 8:38-39 

Given that God cares for us so much, we need not doubt that there is a  better future, and our role is to point people to the hope that is within us.  We all feel ‘blue’ from time to time, but it will never overcome our hope in  Jesus, as Peter tells us in his letters: 

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an  answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you  have. But do this with gentleness and respect...” 
1 Peter 3:15 ​

If I decorate my house perfectly with strands of twinkly lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my neighbour, I am just a decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen baking cakes and arranging food on a beautifully adorned table, but do not share the true meaning of Christmas, I am just another cook. If I volunteer at a soup kitchen, sing carols in hospital, and donate to charity but do not demonstrate simple kindness to strangers, it  profits me nothing. If I attend Christmas lunches, with party hats and  crackers yet fail to be awestruck by the Christ who gave everything to come as a vulnerable child, I have missed the point.

Love stops cooking to hug a child and to be still in the presence of ‘God with us’. Love sets aside decorating to kiss a loved one. Love is kind during Christmas, even though sometimes tired. Love does not envy another’s home that has perfectly strung outdoor lights or a flawless tree. Love does not ask family to get out the way, but is thankful they are in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return or those on our lists, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t and those who aren’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails.

...Even at Christmas. 

- Contributed by a church member ​

During lockdown, I have found time to re-look at familiar stories from the Bible. Three have really resonated with me -The parables of the Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Son. Each is familiar to us, but they always reveal something new when we re-read them.

​During the pandemic, the words LOST, and LOSS seem to have had a greater meaning and made me look with fresh eyes on these stories Jesus told us. In the dictionary, the words have many meanings. The ones that stood out to me were: “to be deprived of”, “to be separated from”; “to become unable to find”; “to go astray”.

Many people have suffered the loss of their loved ones this last 15 months and have been deprived of and separated physically from those closest to them who could share their pain and give them the most comfort. Many of us have been separated from our families, missing hugs and kisses that mean so much.

​We have all in some ways found life hard, being unable to concentrate for long periods, not being able to plan, with our minds drifting and thoughts going astray, and the inner peace we all need so much being hard to find in the turbulence around us.

Many have lost their jobs, their security and self-esteem. I thought of the lost son –what sort of homecoming was he expecting after he had gone astray, and how his searing loss of self-esteem made him feel?

Then my mind drifted from the words “loss” and “lost” to the words “found” and “gained”.

We have gained the gift of time to reflect and rethink, to dream of a better world post-Covid. We have found that as St David wisely said, “small things matter”: kindness, forgiveness, gratitude, sharing and caring, and having had the gift of time to realise with fresh insight that these small things really are the big things after all– the vital firm foundations on which to rebuild our world and cherish our brothers and sisters.

And... like the Lost Son, we have been found and forgiven. Like the Lost Coin, we are each of the greatest value to God. Like the Lost Sheep, we all go astray but our loving shepherd joyfully welcomes us back again and again.

I have found these lines from a hymn so comforting, “I looked at Jesus and I found in him my star and sun”.
("I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" by Horatius Bonar, 1846)

I am holding onto those words as each day begins for me, especially when I am feeling a bit lost and wondering what day it is!

​Contributed by: Anonymous