Happy New Year !!!

It's that funny, "in-between" time of the year... The Dec/Jan period is a weird time, unlike any other time of the year. It's a bit like break up day, but for about a month. People are away, work slows down, shops close, you take holidays etc etc - it's a funny, "in-between" time of year.

Christmas has come and gone (thank God). I survived the silliness of the season by focusing on "advent", which means "coming" or "arrival". It involved reflecting on the coming of Jesus for the month prior to Christmas Day. I, and others, reflected on daily personal advent readings and on weekly group-based candle lighting ceremonies and reflections during this time. We all found this a helpful way to keep focused on something deep and meaningful, at a time when we could be forgiven for thinking that the meaning of life was shopping, eating, and wearing funny hats. It was a great reminder for me that God is engaged with us, even though things don't seem to be going too smoothly in much of the world. Maybe there is some hope to work in with and to work toward...

The New Year has also arrived. They just seem to keep on coming (we were in bed by 10pm on NYE - woohoo!!!)... There has been a lot of reflecting in the media on not just the year, but the whole "noughties" decade. Time magazine called the last decade, "the decade from hell". The new millennium held a lot of hope, but that hope quickly faded with wars, terrorism, climate change and global financial concerns. It seems that as time marches on, we get smarter and more advanced, but things don't necessarily get better.

It might actually be true that we need some help in this life, and maybe even someone to save us - particularly as we get smarter, but not wiser. Our advancements just seem to bring new sets of problems with them, rather than the solutions we had hoped for. I hope that your "in-between" time was not too silly, and that you got the chance to reflect on something deep and meaningful along the way. If you didn't, it's not too late. Work starts on Monday, so that still leaves two days for getting even a little deep and meaningful. You'd better get going...

Shalom...