I was asking my son Harry last evening what he hoped for at Christmas and although his answer was slightly strange – a working belt for his greens (he has recently joined the Air Cadets and is loving being a part of it) – it got me thinking about what we hope for.
There are hopes of all sorts that we have. Hopes that seem small and insignificant to others, hopes that are so big they could even change the world! I wonder if you are hoping for anything specific at the current time? Maybe you are hoping for a white Christmas? Or if you are planning to visit family and friends in the coming weeks – a green, mild one? Perhaps you are hoping you will be able to find the time to do all the pre-Christmas things you need to do? Perhaps you are hoping for 2022 to be a brighter, more certain, more hopeful year?
Perhaps some of our hopes are best echoed in the message that the angels gave to the shepherds on that hillside outside Bethlehem. “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Luke 2:14 (NLT). This might sound in some ways like a glib sentiment. It sounds, perhaps, like a throw away comment or something we ought to hope for, something that it is expected we should say. But there is so much in that one phrase that we can focus on in the run up to Christmas this year, and beyond it. There is so much to hope for in that message – a peaceful, loving world in which we can all live, where respect and justice are available to everybody. A hope for a future in which people are free and can live in harmony for one another and with God.
But where to begin? How do we bring glory to God? How can we work for peace on earth? Are we a people with whom God can be pleased? These are questions that we can really think about and act upon as we look to that wonderful vision of a world full of hope.
Today, let’s focus on being mindful of our actions, our words, our thoughts and see if we can fulfil that vision so that we can be the type of people God can be pleased with. After all Jesus is our best hope, our one true hope, and the hope that we can and should focus on.
And as for the belt … well, let’s just say that in order to make Harry’s Christmas hopes come true, www.CadetDirect.com is a mum’s best friend!
Catherine Booton