Advent calendar 2020

Advent 14 - Saturday 12th December 2020

Photo by Taneli Lahtinen ©Unsplash

Yesterday came the unwelcome news that an outbreak of Covid-19 in North-East Care Home – Inchmarlo House - had reached 102 cases. (The home has for many years enjoyed a good reputation for high quality care.) The outbreak comes as another reminder that the pandemic is far from over.  The risk posed by Covid-19 remains. Even the promise of widespread and effective vaccination, still means it be will be several months before life will return to normal. For the residents, staff and families of everybody connected to Inchmarlo, this is a deeply worrying time.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2

As a parish minister, I usually find Christmas a schizophrenic time of year. There are all the parties and school assemblies. The teachers feeling tired at the end of a busy term and the kids as high as kites! And I love the atmosphere in church. The sound of familiar carols and people greeting each other as we celebrate watchnight and the beginning of yet another Christmas day. These make Christmas for me such a positive and enjoyable time of year. Yet there is another side. It is my busiest pastoral time, often making contacting with those who have known bereavement and loss. For all the joy, there is also much sadness and distress. This is why we need to keep hold of the spiritual truth behind the season.
The prophet Isaiah described the coming of the messiah as light shining in the darkness. The verse can be understood in number of ways. Darkness can refer to the presence of evil and injustice. It can refer to the darkness of human experience of pain, and a symbol of everything that is wrong in the world. In the King James Version of the Bible, the verse is understood in the context of death and bereavement. But however we understand it, here is a divine promise of God’s love reaching into the depths of human experience. That the baby in the manager is not simply an excuse for a festival of cuteness, but rather a heart-felt exultation of deepest joy that God’s light has entered into the darkness recesses of human experience. Or as the Apostle John puts in 1:5, light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Prayer

Remember all the residents, staff and everyone connected with Inchmarlo House and our local Care Homes.

In this season of waiting, of longing,
of looking for you to come into our world
We are seeking light
In our own lives
We are seeking light
In our neighbourhoods
We are seeking light
In our families
We are seeking light
In our work
We are seeking light
In Grace
We are seeking light
In our nation
We are seeking light
In our world
We are seeking light
In… [add your own longings]
We are seeking light
Seek and you shall find
Knock and the door will be opened
Ask and it will be given to you
Jesus Christ you are the light of the world
May we have eyes to see you
And ears to hear you
Come into our world today
Amen

Other days in the Advent Calendar