O Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

So I know Christmas and New Years have come and gone but I was too busy enjoying them at the time to bother with a blog post. So now that I am back, settling into my routine, and seem to have some internet connectivity; here are my thoughts.

My title seems rather ironic to me. The news I received this Christmas season did not necessarily connote comfort and joy. My uncertain future, the poor health of an uncle, and the suicide of a young woman whom I had taught drama in highschool (and a sibling of one of my classmates) weighed heavy on my mind. On top of it all was global news: deaths of dictators, wars and rumours of wars, environmental destruction etc. These topics are not joyful. Yet in the midst of it all I was able to feel a comfort. For as we celebrated the first coming of Jesus- as a tiny baby in a manger, we look forward to His second coming as a strong and conquering king. We also eagerly anticipate the establishment of His kingdom- where mental illness, corruption, and violence have no power.

It is fitting that New Years falls so close to Christmas. After a reminder of Christ second coming we are given a fresh start: a New Year. New Years are full of hope and promise.We can set aside all the hurts, sorrows and pains of the past year and look forward to a new year of hope and promise.

I know we celebrate New Years at a different time of year than the Jewish people who’s New Year’s celebration is Rosh Hashanah (typically falling in September or October.) Yet their idea of New Year’s celebration is intriguing. I won't go into too much detail- you can look it up yourself and i strongly suggest you do. However their celebrations involve a period of self examination, sacrifices, and the symbolic casting off of sins. It actually last for several days and traditionally involves numerous ceremonial sacrifices (when I read the Old Testament accounts of how these holidays were to be celebrated to my housemates in university I remember we had several funny comments about all the animal sacrifices) culminating in Yom Kippur- the Day of Atonement. This new years practice of self examination and purification is a good reminder for us as well. We don’t need to make animal sacrifices- Christ has come and made the sacrifice for us already. But we can examine ourselves and cast off our sin. We have been given a fresh start so let’s use it. Let’s work to build the promised kingdom that is here but not yet in completeness.