We come to the eve of 2023 having lived through three years of pandemic, political and racial upheaval. We’ve learned painfully, that some who we trusted were not deserving of our trust. We’ve discovered both the fragility of democracy and its resilience. We are a different people than we were three years ago. Wiser, less secure, feeling the weight and pain of cynicism, we come cautiously.

And yet, we come also with the sound of angel songs echoing in our ears, assured that in the birth of Bethlehem’s child, God has entered our world to stay.

Through the stream of the ages, people have turned to the child of Bethlehem finding answers for the deepest needs of their spirits and souls. Trusting in God’s gift of love, we are given courage for the future . . . empowered to face tomorrow with hope and optimism. God has chosen to be with us, to live among us and walk with us into the future.

The gift of Christmas lasts forever. It is larger than our deepest pain, wider than our grief and sorrow and higher than our dreams can rise. What God has in mind for tomorrow, only God really knows. Our task is to open our hearts, and follow that Christmas star wherever it leads. For then we shall be exactly where God wants us to be.  May we be followers of the light, as we enter this New Year.

“The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them.” Matthew 2:9b