TODAY is the shortest day of the year. I am amused that every year the dark days before Christmas seem to come as a slightly depressing surprise: "Did you notice how early the sun set?"
Other things happen every year and we get inured to them: "It seems like summer has only started and the schools are back already"; "It's not even Halloween and the shops are decorated for Christmas."
In the words of Jeremiah 8:20, as paraphrased in The Message: "The crops are in, the summer is over, but for us nothing's changed."
And yet, the long, dark nights seem to come every year as a surprise.
In a Covid-wracked world, we need some pleasant surprises in life. Or, rather, we need to see the surprise in the routine patterns of life - perhaps a little less Groundhog Day, reliving the same experience with ennui, and a little more 50 First Dates, experiencing every day brand new.
Tomorrow, the days start getting longer. May you experience God's care and love afresh each day, regardless of its length. Happy Christmas.
Rev Dr Tom McKnight
President, Methodist Church in Ireland
