Carol Purves

Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown’ and he replied ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God . That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.’ Minnie Louise Haskins

I give this message to all my readers for 2022. There is no better advice. May God bless you.

In 1917 my father was a 17 year old cadet in the navy. During that year he became a pall-bearer for many of his comrades who had died in the Spanish flu pandemic. Many thousands died. A forgotten era but I am reminded of it as we are in the midst of another pandemic.

I believe it was September 1957, when I was a very new student at college, we suffered another pandemic, known, I think, as the Asian Pandemic. It wasn’t so widely remembered, though it was by me.

Here we are approaching 2022 and in the middle of another pandemic. Covid 19. As we sigh and groan about the coming year what can we learn? We learn that there has always been troubles, we are in troubles now and there will always be troubles. BUT God doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today and for ever, especially in 2022.

I know that today this phrase refers to spreading the corona virus but suppose for a moment it referred to something else. Just suppose it referred to the spread of the gospel. Imagine the Good News invading the whole world as fast as the corona virus is at the present time. Imagine there being worshipping Christians all over the continent of Africa. Can you visualise the Americas knowing all about Christ and His sacrifice. Europe and the Far East would all join in with the praise. Think what it would be like for everyone to know the true meaning of Christmas.

Sadly this is not going to happen, although we can all do our part. But a time is coming when the next world will be filled with the knowledge of God. There will be no need to evangelise because all will know. What riches await us! Meanwhile we will journey on down here and wait and prayer.

This is the day that makes dying worth living for.

I wish that this was the first Christmas that I heard the story of Jesus’s birth. I would like to receiving the story of the visit of the shepherds and the wise men as a new story. Then maybe I would be filled with the wonder and amazement that the story deserves.

It is thrilling and wonderful to read about the angel visiting Mary and telling her that she is to be the mother of the Messiah. I want to feel the anguish of Joseph; what should he do about Mary, this young maiden who he loves. He faces heartbreak. So stunning to read about the angels visiting the shepherds up on the hills, experiencing what up to when was an ordinary day. There is the story of the long dangerous journey of the wise men, following the star and getting lost in Herod’s palace before worshipping at the manger.

Then I realise that if I had never heard this story before , I would have missed out on many meaningful Christmases. Although I know how the story unfolds, it is still wonderful and miraculous. I can still be overwhelming by the significance of the message as I too worship at the manger.

Joseph, the surrogate father of Jesus has been in my mind a great deal this year. I find different years bring up different emphasises. Then I received an e-card. I’m not a lover of these but this one brought tears to my eyes. With the background of the carol ‘Little Donkey’, it depicted the journey to Bethlehem. I expect the couple were travelling alone as Mary’s out-of-wedlock condition would mean they were ostracised. One scene showed the couple huddled by a small fire alone way out in the desert.

As part of my Advent reading this year I’m reading of Joseph’s dilemma. A relatively old man he looked forward to love and a future with the young Mary. Then he discovered a supposed infidelity. An angel tried to explain and allay his fears. I imagine the subsequent visits of the shepherds and wise men would help to prove the angel’s words. What a tremendous responsibility he was given!

Do we continue to pray when there is no possibility of our prayers being answered. Did Elizabeth and Zechariah continue to pray when, because of their age, there was no chance of her ever having a baby. Then the miracle happened, John was born to Elizabeth. In modern jargon their prayers could be ‘clocked as a success.’

What about our prayers which we prayed so long ago that we have forgotten about them? Do we even remember what they were? Our God is outside time. The past, present and future are all the same to Him. We live moment by moment, not in the thoughts of eternity. Should we even continue when all hope is gone? Is there a time when we need to let go?

I have no idea what the answer is to the questions I’ve posed. I think the only thing we can do is pray to the God of answers and share them with him.

At least one national newspaper has announced that a four day week is being aimed for. That would mean four days a week working and three days off. My immediate thought was what will we do with the extra leisure time or will we get a second job? I remember my dad worked five and a half days a week with one Saturday in four away from the office. I’m sure many of you will have family members who worked even longer hours.

Will we use our leisure time wisely? Will we spend more time with the family, visiting and helping the sick, lonely and those in need.? Will we spend more time in prayer and with our Bibles? Or will we squander time? It is possible to have too much of a good thing. At the end of time we will have to answer for all our actions.

There were three ladies of a similar age; one was widowed, one married and another single. Their life experiences had been very different. One with her husband had lived in the limelight and one was a home bird. Their childhoods had been spent in different parts of the country. At first glance it seemed these ladies had nothing in common. The one unifying factor was their love for the Lord. They had all learned to love Him and serve Him in their different situations.

By this same standard we are sisters and brothers to Christians all round the world, whatever are peoples’ colour of skin, political situations, social standing or age. We are all one in Christ Jesus.

As I wake in the morning my mind is sometimes involved in a negative spiral. I worry about climate change, the pandemic, my own health and that of friends, how I will cope in the future. This morning my mind was drawn to the words of Philippians 4:8 words I needed to hear.

Whatever is true – the media often peddles lies, leaving us not knowing what to believe.

Whatever is noble, ‘turn my thoughts to noble actions, ministries of love.’

Whatever is right, through God’s conscience we know right from wrong, let us pursue it.

Whatever is pure – the sacrificial love of Jesus, love ‘so amazing, so divine.’

Whatever is lovely, God has given us creation, my sunrise this morning and the tracery of the snow laden branches.

Whatever is the pursuit of excellence and praiseworthiness will bring peace.