Dear Friends,
‘Are we nearly there yet?’, is the cry of children on a journey dreaded by parents – especially if there is still a long way to go. It is a sentiment which we can all feel in the approach to Christmas or any other major celebration, a wedding, funeral or significant birthday. How much longer to wait.
The anticipation, the preparations, the stress and anxiety that all will go well, are significant. The hope that people will be able to come, that all have a good time; you can feel very responsible for it all, and that is a challenge. But back to the journey.
There are several journeys in the stories of the birth of Jesus. There were real risks in travelling in those days. So, the pregnant Mary travels to see Elizabeth, and then has to go home again. The journey to Bethlehem. The journey of the wise men, with the diversion to see Herod on the way, and their diverted route home. The shorter journey of the shepherds. And there is then the escape from Herod’s murderous soldiers for Joseph, Mary and their baby as refugees into a foreign land.
Of course we can see that these stories are a part of the bigger picture, the real living story of God revealing himself to us in Jesus. You could say that the story began before time (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God… John1:1ff). The journey is summarised in the line of a carol: ‘Mary’s child, go to your cross of wood’.
For us, each new day is the start of a new journey, with many opportunities and half chances to reflect God’s journey with us and through us. We may wonder how much further we have to travel, which way to go and who we might encounter on the way, such is the journey of faith.
Peace
Tim