Christmas is an opportunity to pause and to reflect on what makes life worth living. This reflection is timely when we live in a troubled and uncertain world where so many major changes are taking place.
Our leaving the EU means we must now plan and negotiate for our future relationship with Europe, and consider afresh Britain’s place in the world. 2016 has seen much international uncertainty, and, in much of the world, political turmoil and crisis.
Yet Christmas reminds us of what is enduring and lasting. God is the One who never changes, who is ‘from everlasting to everlasting’. The everlasting love that brought God to come to earth in Jesus, is the same love that God offers us today.
In the gospel narratives, when Joseph is told that Mary would bear a Son, he is told that “His name shall be called Emmanuel, which means God with us". At the first Christmas, God came down into this troubled world to identify with us, live among us, and show us that each individual matters to God. God is present in Jesus, and at Christmas we remember that he is God with us.
It is with the conviction that each individual matters to God that we commend the work of those who care for others. We give thanks for the work of doctors, nurses, hospital workers; for those who care for the elderly, the lonely and those with health problems; for those who care for refugees and the vulnerable; those in the police and security forces who protect communities from violence. It is right to be thankful for the vast number of people who give of their time and abilities to make our society a better place for us all.
Let me wish everyone in the UK and around the world a happy and peaceful Christmas.
Gareth Wallace
Executive Director