By Robin Robson, Reader
I am writing this in mid Advent but when you read it, it will be the New Year. We will have greeted 2017 with joy and slight apprehension. The world has changed over the past 12 months, we have voted to leave the European Union, and that must happen as it is the will of the people. Donald Trump, about whom we know very little, has been elected President of the United States of America and will be inaugurated in January. So these are the definite things about which we need to pray.
Meanwhile on our personal stage some people will have started New Year Resolutions and should still be keeping them. As I am hopeless at those sort of resolutions, although I have the best intentions in the world. Last year, I made the resolution to learn a foreign language. In Acts chapter 2 it tells of the disciples all talking in tongues representing all the countries of that known world and I wish I had that ability, but I have not. So I must learn bit by bit.
Because we go to Italy quite a lot I decided on Italian and as I speak French passably it was supposed to be easy to learn another roman based language. Not when you get to the age of no return, as I am, you have to really work at it. But the pluses are that the classes are in the afternoon, that the other learners are a lovely group of people and our teacher ‘insegnante’ is a young, vibrant woman from Sicily whose name is Monica and she guides us through the mysteries of verbs, prepositions and idioms, as well as nouns. You will have gathered that a year on I am still trying at this endeavour and that is how resolutions should be.
In our Church life, the new year has already begun with Advent and the tum of the year is just another indication. There will be many among us who have made new resolutions but perhaps this year, it being a more challenging year for us all, we should resolve to pray more. Resolve to read the bible more and resolve to share the love of Christ with everyone. Jesus told us never to be afraid but to trust in him, we have to resolve to share that, it is such good news.
Happy New Year.
Robin Robson