For sure, it has been a strange year – I don’t think anyone will question that! But for me, and I hope for you too, that at this end of the year, there are some glimmers of light.

The last time I posted to this blog, I was about to go away to Rotorua for 3 months. Lockdown had ended, and life was heading towards normal. Well so I thought, as I left, but it wasn’t to turn out quite like that. Being away from home and of no fixed abode for those months, immediate family with health issues requiring surgery, a cousin’s son tragically dying; all these were unexpected new challenges. The times were indeed troubled and unsettled.

You may have had similar experiences. Many are estranged from loved ones around the globe; some have had the agony of bereavement and death in the family without being able to say good bye as they would wish. Jobs have been lost or re-aligned; the world has changed. For each of us, the year has brought different challenges.

But in this strange year, there are signs of hope. We are fortunate to live in New Zealand with its low coronavirus figures. We are able to travel freely around here, and to parts of Australia. A vaccine has been developed. Elections deliver promising results. We are in spring: the days are longer and flowers are blooming.

Despite the trails and challenges we have faced and continue to face, there seems to be a bit more light. I invite you to consider the light in your life now:

What do you notice?
What brings you strength?
For what do you give thanks each day?
What sustains you in dark days?
For what do you grieve - what have you lost?
What new seeds are waiting to be born in you?
What are your signs of hope?

Please, if you wish, share with us your experience, or your signs of hope – that we might learn from one another.

Not all of us have experienced much darkness this year…. but if not this year, there is no doubt that darkness will be part of our lives at some time. We might not welcome it, but it is in darkness that new things grow. Bulbs swell, babies gestate, character develops. Christianity teaches that from death comes new life – resurrection – a teaching that applies to our lives as well.

There is life; there is death; there is resurrection. There is hope for the future; there are chinks of light. May that be what you find.