This is a brand new week does it mean that it is better than last week or last year or even a thousand years ago? You might live in an old cottage, is it better than the new houses and apartments that have just been built opposite the Rectory? Is my old friend, a better friend than a new one? Is an old way of working more successful and thus better than a new way of working?
Of course not, I hear you say, it simply depends on the situation and what is going on. Yesterday we said our goodbyes to Rev Jude who has served in the parish well and moves on to her next appointment. She has much to offer, will be well used, loved and no doubt will draw on her experiences here in this parish to help her in her new post. One isn't better than the other or indeed one isn't worse than the other. In this year of pandemic which has cost humanity much, and for many, a very limited way of life that we are not used to in these days of Twenty First Century. It has been in some ways limiting but also liberating, in some ways the worst year, and for others marvellous things have come about during it. In lack of personal freedom to do and be, we have discovered the gift of time and all that it brings to us.
New things can be daunting and exciting but old things familiar and safe. Church can be embracing in its liturgy, sacraments and fellowship, but for a newcomer to Christianity or in deed an explorer of faith, the old ways uncertain, strange and shrouded in mystery and in the new, contentment and assurance in the digital world of worship.
As we move towards the end of November where it has lived up to its gloomy nature, darkness, fogs, and some distinct chills, we walk towards Advent, (next Sunday) a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the old and familiar to come our way or for the new to surprise us and to be discovered. Familiar Christmas images are around us already this year, but also the uncertainty of how we will do Christmas this year and will "there be a Christmas or will it be cancelled?" We know Christmas will be and can never be cancelled or removed, but we must stand prepared to let go of the old, to wait expectantly as if for the very first time, prepare for something different, to be unsure, but valuable and embrace the new - different yes, uncomfortable possibly, and maybe just maybe even better! This will be a real Advent for us all.
Let us today, give thanks for the old influences, past family, friends and experiences we have had, but also be prepared to move on to the uncertain, new relationships, new hope and the new things which are just as important.
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