THERE are stormy times – I write as Storm Darragh has been wreaking havoc, leaving people here in parts of Redditch without power and with lots of damage done.
This sense of stormy times resonates with me. As a minister in the Church of England we are going through stormy times, those we walk alongside are often dealing with challenges in life.
What has 2024 been like for you? I was speaking with a parent of young children today and we spoke about how this Christmas season often causes us to stop and think, to reflect upon what Christmases have been like for us in the past, those we travel with now and those we miss.
We spoke more about how there is more to all this than presents and giving and that time, attention and community are so much more important. But, it is so easy to get sucked into the busyness and let all that slip.
I spend a lot of time telling folk about how God cared for us so much that he came and lived with us. Jesus let go of His divinity to become fully human. As we remember his birth, shouldn’t we think more about what it is for us to be fully human? To press beyond the stuff that surrounds us and to look to the people and communities around us?
The storms of life are, sadly, often with us. But, I firmly believe that it is by being in community with God and each other that we can weather those storms better.
So, perhaps the best gift you can give to anyone this Christmas is the gift that God gave to us, in Jesus, the gift of your time, attention and love.
Rev Canon Paul Lawlor
Area Dean of Redditch and Bromsgrove
