Rector's Letter

New Year's Resolutions

It's a new year and a new start. It's the time for New Year's resolutions. New Year's resolutions don't have anything to do with the Church but they can be a good idea. It makes good sense to use all the help you can get to stop smoking or to lose that weight you put on over Christmas or whatever. The idea of putting the past behind and making a new start is however a thoroughly Christian idea. In fact this is at the heart of Jesus' message to us all. Whoever we are; whatever we have done we can be forgiven by God and move on with the slate wiped clean.

When we make a New Year's resolution we are recognising that we are not quite what we would want to be as a person. Sometimes these resolutions work but most are forgotten by February or Easter at the latest. We know that we aren't what we would like to be but most of us don't seem to have the strength to change. That is where the Christian way of life is so powerful. We Christians know that we aren't perfect and that very often we don't have the strength to improve our lives. But we also know that with the support of the Holy Spirit we can overcome our weakness and change for the better. New Year's resolutions should remind us of our ongoing Christian task of becoming the person we are created to be. The high failure rate of New Year's resolutions leads so many people into thinking that they can't succeed; It leaves many feeling like failures. Thankfully we know that even when we fail we are not failures to our heavenly Father. When we fail we are given the strength to face our imperfection, receive forgiveness and reassurance and we are given the strength to pick ourselves up once again.

Christianity is a practical way of life based on our belief in a loving God. We hope for a time when not just the year but all things are new. We look forward to a future where love reigns supreme and work for that time. Remember each time that you share the love of God through your words or actions you transform a little more of this world into the place it was created to be.

I wish you every blessing for this New Year,

Revd Nigel Tuffnell