By the time you read this 2017 will be well under way, but please just think back to New Year’s Day. When I was a child I always found New Year’s Day really flat; it was all over then and everything was back to normal. Of course when I was a child I reasoned like a child and now I’ve grown up, hopefully things are different. In the ancient world including the world of the bible, the calendar was directly linked to your ruler – hence references to XYZ year of King ABC’s rule so lots of separate calendars. There were celebrations heralding the New Year and almost certainly people expressed their hopes for what would be achieved. Today we have our New Year resolutions and new plans, holidays to book, perhaps this is the year we can do whatever it is we’ve been saving for. It is worth reflecting however that the end of 2016 was a very different looking world to the one we had begun with – how things change. And what will January 2018 look like? We’ll have to see.
One of bible readings for New Year’s Day was from the book of Numbers. The book charts the experiences of the children of Israel as they continue their journey with the Lord; how they get it right or not. Throughout however, the Lord never gives up on them and as scripture unfolds we see the Lord walking with his people time and time again. Even a potted biblical history tells us that whatever our plans are and/or whatever happens, God wants and needs to be involved. That neatly demonstrates an inherent tension within Christianity. What we know and value is real because within all that is good, God has made himself known, but God calls us to explore the yet unknown as well. There is nothing new with the Lord; the question is how comfortable are we with the tension between staying put with the familiar and exploring yet more, both as individuals and together in our community?
Here in Littleport we have significant areas of hope for 2017. The Foodbank is now established through the various partner organisations; we are very grateful for the support the Foodbank has received which has been of real benefit to client users. The new high school opens in September and the shadow governing body is already making an impact. Wireless broadband has been beamed from St George’s tower to Black Horse Drove and we hope to develop that this year. And Littleport Churches Together is meeting in new ways for prayer and praise to the God who walks with his people – watch out for the publicity. So as we progress through 2017 I hope we will recall that the Christ child grew up and that he did so to walk with us and us with him.