By the time you read this, we will know whether our lockdown has been relaxed and, if it has, into what new tier of restriction. This lockdown has been a bit different from the first, and not only because it is shorter. We know a little more about how to cope and we don’t go shopping as if preparing for a siege. The main difference is that a vaccine is now definitely in sight; and the hope of this is helping to modify our mental attitudes and our feelings.

The season of Advent has just begun. It is the prelude and preparation time leading to Christmas. At the heart of it is our thinking about Jesus. Jesus is the Advent hope.

As we pray for a vaccine to bring an end to the destructive pandemic, so will we also pray that Jesus will be the thought of our hearts every day until Christmas Day. Then we will say: a child is born in Bethlehem – hope for our world.

With every blessing

Stephen