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The Dean of Guernsey, The Very Reverend Tim Barker has shared a Christmas Reflection with the Bailiwick - including personal recollections, thoughts for others, a reminder of the meanings of Christmas, and a look ahead to the future.
"Having recently moved to South Australia with her husband and our grandson, our daughter is adjusting to an Australian Christmas, with forecast temperatures of 32° on Christmas Day. Boxing Day will be even warmer for her, at 37°, when Guernsey people will be shivering on Cobo beach before and after the dip in aid of Guernsey Cheshire Home. I doubt that she will be singing the glorious carol ‘In the bleak midwinter’ without appreciating the irony.
However, for many people, this is indeed a bleak midwinter. None of us enjoys the dull weather. In Guernsey, we have escaped the worst of the snow and ice that has affected many in the United Kingdom in recent weeks. Many of us will have seen the pictures of the snow storms that have shut down many part of the United States of America, with temperatures as low as minus 40°.
Pictured: The Very Reverend Tim Barker.
But the ‘bleak midwinter’ is far more than a reference to weather conditions.
Earlier in the year, we saw the devastating effect of flooding in Pakistan, where 33 million people, about 1 in 7 of the population have been affected. Heavy monsoon rains damaged more than a million homes, swept away entire villages, livelihoods, crops, schools and roads. Families are in urgent need of food, clean drinking water and shelter.
This year has been dominated by the unjust Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some remarkable reporting has left us in no doubt about the devastation of Ukraine and the courage of her people. I welcome the statement issued on Christmas Eve by the leaders of the Christian churches in England: ‘Christians have a special reason to pray for those caught up in violence and driven from their homes by conflict. Our Saviour’s family were themselves refugees in Egypt, led by the Spirit to escape Herod’s persecution, cut off from their home and community, and no doubt travelling in great fear. We call to mind the suffering of the people of Ukraine this terrible winter as the unjust Russian invasion continues. We urge Christians everywhere to continue to stand in prayerful solidarity with the people and churches of Ukraine and to support them in their hour of need.’
Pictured: Those affected by floods in Pakistan this year continue to feature in the Dean's prayers.
Closer to home, many people who are fearful because of the economic turmoil and political uncertainty that has affected the nations of Europe. Many are anxious about the increasing cost of living, and especially the steep rise in the cost of fuel.
For many this year ends with an increased sense that we are living in a ‘bleak midwinter’.
This year has seen many changes. In September, in the midst of almost unprecedented political upheaval in the United Kingdom, we had to come to terms with the death of Queen Elizabeth. Many of us will be reminded of this by her absence from our television screens on Christmas Day. Her address to the Commonwealth has been part of the tradition of Christmas Day for millions of people throughout their lives. As Queen Elizabeth spoke openly about her Christian faith, she was, as many remarked at the time of her death, a natural evangelist, talking simply and honestly about what her faith meant to her and about how she believed that the teaching of Jesus remains of profound importance and significance for the world.
That is something that we are invited to embrace and welcome at Christmas. In the words of the introduction to countless carol services, ‘Be it this Christmastide our care and delight to hear again the message of the angels, and in heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, and the Babe lying in a manger.’
Pictured: The death of Queen Elizabeth II has been a focal point for those who shared her faith this year.
Life was difficult in the Holy Land two thousand years ago. The Roman occupiers and their puppet kings like Herod were unpopular. Mary and Joseph had an uncomfortable journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And yet Jesus was born into that fragile and frightening world. At Christmas, we celebrate his birth, which was, and remains, a sign that the world and its people matter to God, who was prepared to come amongst us in the form of that tiny baby, Jesus, who is Emmanuel - God with us. That costs us nothing. But Jesus is a gift beyond price.
This Christmas, we hold in prayer all those displaced and suffering the effects of war and oppression, the victims of natural disaster, and all who live in fear and anxiety.
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and his message of love, justice and peace, Edmund Hamilton Sears’ words are as relevant as they were when he wrote the carol ‘It came upon a midnight clear’ in the nineteenth century:
But with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long; beneath the angel-strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong; and man, at war with man, hears not the love-song which they bring; - Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!
Once again, we are invited to pause and to make time to celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus into this world of need; to hush the noise and believe that the world can be different. And that we are invited to work together to make it so."
