Several of our neighbours in this part of Ipswich have left the Christmas lights outside their homes, not only attached to the building, but switched on during the evenings. Under normal circumstances I would have been moaning about this practice as it is tradition to remove all Christmas decorations by twelfth night, (three day ago at the time of writing) but I think that it is nice and acceptable behaviour this year, indeed, I think it is to be commended. I find January a difficult month normally, we ought to feel optimistic during this month, having just spent six months watching the days gradually shortening, we have now turned a corner and little by little the days are getting longer, we are now gradually getting more hours of daylight and that should be something to celebrate. January 2021 maybe feels to be particularly difficult in the light of the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday 4th January that we are back in another period of lockdown due to the continually rising number of cases of Covid.
The East Anglia and Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire Districts of The Methodist Church have launched an Initiative for January this year “January Light” and the idea is to bring the light of the love of God to people in these difficult times. We have a link to January Light on our Circuit Website Click Here have a quick look for yourself at some of the suggestions about how we can bring some light into what feels like a darkened world for so many. The prophet Isaiah wrote “the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light” and surely the message of the Christmas story is about the light of Jesus Christ coming into a darkened world. Bringing light into a darkened world reaches far beyond us leaving coloured lights up in January.
January Light at it’s best included small acts of kindness. The true message of Christmas is a reminder of the life and work of Jesus, he made a real difference in people’s lives whether it was calling fishermen to become disciples, healing or making the rejected feel included. During these dark days of January, let us bring light back into the lives of those who find themselves in dark places, by our deeds of kindness, our time, and our love. Let us use social media, the telephone and good old pen and paper and let us make the Light of Christ shine forth, have a look at the website and see if you are inspired.