23 December 2016 | St Albans, UK [Victor Hulbert] This Christmas thought message was first given as a morning devotional at the Trans-European Division office:
Well this is it! Christmas 2016! We’ve got through another year, the children are on holiday and rejoicing – and if it is anything like last year – we are getting ready for chaos as we are invaded by all our lovely family!
Yes, we do enjoy it – and, in fact, we’ve enjoyed the past year with all its ups and downs.
And we should enjoy it! I heard a fascinating interview with American science superstar, Neil de Grasse Tyson the other day. Coming from the Bronx and with little motivation from his teachers, he grew up to be an astrophysicist – and his enthusiasm just comes through in his voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcY0xFlJwIA&feature=youtu.be
Something struck me. He questioned why school children rejoice at the end of term. Shouldn’t school be a place of excitement? A place for enquiring minds? A place you really want to go to? After all, we are all natural learners.
My grandchildren turned two this month. It means our Christmas get-together will be twice as exciting as last year. But more stimulating than that, is that every time I see them there is a new development. Increased vocabulary. New adventures and achievements – and for them, each accomplishment comes with a big smile – a smile mirrored in my own face as there is nothing better than seeing them progress.
We took one of them up to see the Christmas lights near us. This is not a town centre display. Rather, it is a couple with a rather large garden who strew so many lights out across their property that they can’t even boil a kettle in the evening – as they’re maxed out on the power supply.
People drive from miles around to see the display – and to donate to their chosen charity – the Berkshire children’s hospice service. Their annual light display is a tribute to a loved child who died of cancer. It is an act of remembrance – but also joy – and that is something I like!
It kind of reminds me of the beginning of John’s Gospel, where he writes, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” [John 1:4] – and then spends the whole Gospel telling how that life – that light – made a difference, to Nicodemous, a Samaritan woman, a man born blind – to Lazarus, and ultimately, to us – as the Gospel concludes, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. [John 20:30-31]
And that is why, at the end of this year, I can be filled with joy. Tackling a new job, as I have this year, can be challenging – but my greatest reward as I have travelled and reported, is meeting people who are ‘being’ that light – whether in a refugee camp in Greece, a school in Finland, a town centre in Serbia or outside a cinema in Poland.
Yes, a refugee camp is a difficult place to report from. At the end of a day there you want to cry – but the love you find reaches beyond the distress caused by war, politics and the stresses of geography.
The school was much easier. The children were proud of their Christian faith and heritage in a very secular country… and I could share so many more stories – all of which, of course, you can find on our website.
All I’m saying, is that in what we sometimes see as the darkness of this 21st century world – there is a lot of light ~ and that light comes from you – and from me – sharing the One light, Jesus, who invites, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 It is a story worth re-reading this Christmas time… or even throughout the year!
There is so much Good News – and you are a part of it! And for that reason, I can wish you a very Merry Christmas – and a happy, positive, and God filled New Year. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Esti Pujic, associate editor
119 St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ted.adventist.org
tedNEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
