‘A friend is someone to whom one can pour out all the contents of one’s heart, grain and chaff together, knowing that loving hands will sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with the breath of love will blow the chaff away.’ ~Arabian Proverb

This weekend we lit the fourth candle on the Advent wreath and moved us into the final week before Christmas. But this final week is shrouded in uncertainty and nervousness about the Covid Omicron wave and how easily it is spreading within our communities. Any plans for a normal Christmas have quite simply ended abruptly. But despite all the uncertainties the Christmas message is as relevant and important as ever in our spiritual lives.

I came across the above Arabian proverb during the week and I thought isn’t that just full of love and meaning. It particularly has meaning for Christmas and what the season is all about. It is a time to celebrate what is worth keeping in our lives and with a breath of love move to one side all that is not working in our lives, anything negative and anything that is not life giving. While we can’t do this all in one go or all at the same time, Christmas is a beautiful time of the year to begin.

Christmas can best be described as a great moment. It stirs something special within all of us. We can’t allow the uncertainty of Covid to take away what Christmas really means for us and particularly what it can do for us spiritually. In one week today we celebrate the birth of Jesus and everything evolves around this. It is indeed a great moment, but its greatness can get lost.

Why did God choose to come into this world just like one of us? Why did God choose a simple stable on the outskirts of a busy town? Why was it done quietly and without fuss? Nothing has changed for Christmas 2021. God still comes into our lives quietly and without fuss. We could so easily miss it. I pray that this coming week is one of anticipation and hope for you, despite all that is going on around us, with much of it outside our control.