Thought For The Week 10 January 2023

The image on the front of your service sheet this week is a mixed media artwork by an artist from Ukraine, Irenaeus Yurchuck. It is more striking in colour to be sure, but I think you can still see the main elements in black and white. Bombed-out apartment buildings dominate the frame and juxtaposed down in the rubble of the foreground we see the Holy Family sheltering, surrounded by the      debris and waste of human conflict. Joseph is sitting with his head in his hands, perhaps downcast. Mary is cradling the new-born Jesus, so small, almost insignificant. Vulnerable. The harsh and unforgiving concrete blocks and steel beams teetering in the equilibrium of their jumbled mass, threatening to give way and crush this little life.

The “silent night” into which Christ is born is filled with the sound of rockets, drones, gunfire and cries of anguish and pain. A dark night of war and conflict. In the sky, framed by a shell of the apartment building on the brink of collapse, is the star of Bethlehem, solitary, alone. Shining brightly and signalling that there is hope in the midst of this absolute mess.

Where is Christ in our pain and our disaster? He is beside us. Hurting, suffering alongside. Calling those who oppress others to account. He is in Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, and the many other places afflicted by the terror of war. He is here in our country, in our community, wanting to bring peace to troubled hearts and lives.

Christ, the Prince of Peace, brought peace to our relationship to God. Forgiving our rebellion and the usurping our calling, and so enabling humanity to forgive and be at peace with our neighbour, whether they be next door or across the sea.

This advent season, we look to his comings and pray that his eternal peace would reign in human hearts.

Amen

Luke Blackbeard