Articles - From the Vicar

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! New Year is, of course, not a religious festival but is one of several festivals that have their roots in the pre-Christian period when people were marking the darkest point of the year and the start of longer days and shorter nights. The Christian Church often "baptised" these festivals, incorporating them into its calendar, so that people could continue to celebrate them but with a different faith perspective.

With a belief in God the creator, we can see moments like this, which mark the regular cycle of the seasons, as symbols of God's faithfulness expressed in the laws of nature. We can also see the depths of winter as a reminder of the need for all things to have their "quiet time". The old Celtic blessing invokes "Deep peace of the quiet earth to you". The quiet earth of wintertime reminds us that we too need a time of resting and of waiting before the energy and activity of a new day, a new spring, a new beginning.

With a belief in Jesus, we relate the New Year festivities to the feast of Epiphany. The light of the world has come and it shines in the darkness and the darkness will never put it out. Now this is God's world and his light shines in so many places and people, but even so there is still much that is dark. The pre-Christian festivals of light are, in Christ, transformed into celebrations of God's love shining out through Jesus.

With a belief in the Spirit at work in the whole of creation, we can fearlessly embrace insights and traditions that may not come from a Christian culture but which, in the light of Jesus, can be seen as reflections of God's loving will for all people. The wise men, after all, came from the east, from non-Jewish cultures. Yet their wisdom drew them to Bethlehem and has continued to enrich the Christian faith ever since.

It is traditional to wish people a very happy New Year. Of course, we know that the reality is that the year to come will (like all those in the past) be a very mixed affair. However, trusting ourselves to our Creator, allowing ourselves to be guided by the light of Christ, and being open to God's generous Spirit, whatever the coming year holds God will bless us through it.

With prayers and good wishes
David

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