Are you feeling festive?

Do you start quite early or only feel festive when everything is done?

Maybe you don’t feel festive. Maybe this year you are not quite feeling it.

Maybe you never do.

If we look at the reason for the season, Mary and Joseph didn’t feel festive either. Both had been surprised by the events that unfolded. Both had been forced to uproot themselves for the sake of a government decree.

What followed then was a time of uncertainty and a journey that would land them in a different country until it was safe to return.

Despite the visits of angels and shepherds and the wise – they didn’t have decorations, a tree or time to shop.

Many people may be thinking about how they might celebrate this little bit of time we have together over the next few weeks. Whether we get fully into the festivities or whether we visit family and friends, we pray that this will be a time of reflection and celebration.

As Advent gets closer to Christmas – the church recognises Love coming into the world, recognises the joy and hope in a new life born in the world and the peace that comes from one intent on sharing all they had for the sake of the world.

This year, we pray for hope in a world where hope is sometimes hard to come by. We pray for love to shared and joy to be seen in the lives of those we care for and those who need it most.

And above all – wherever there is conflict, upheaval, stress, anxiety or illness – we pray for God’s amazing Peace that is beyond all our understanding to be in our hearts and homes at this Festive time.

Have a Joy-filled Christmas and we will meet again in the New Year.

Amen

 Photo by Guille Álvarez on Unsplash