19 December
Still thou art blest, compared wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
Between threats of variant strains of Coronavirus, tightening of restrictions in the near future, and delays (chaos?) as a result of Brexit on 1 January, I suspect that many of us ‘guess and fear’. Maybe we should reflect on Jesus’ words ‘Do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.’ and live today for itself. We can also reflect that for those involved, the Christmas story was not a bundle of laughs, was not the cosy Nativity Play that children act out. It was rooted in the harsh realities of life. In that setting the message that Jesus was Immanuel (‘God with us’) spoke clearly of God’s presence and support through the pains of life. He didn’t wave a magic wand to make everything wonderful, but walked with, sat with, wept with, people in their real and painful experiences, and brought hope of a way to make change
Lord, thank you that you are ‘with us’ through all this. Help us to take things a day at a time, and help us to think beyond our own immediate situation to others in need, and what we (as individuals or a society) can do to help them
