A new year message from Bishop Olivia

IWONDER what this new year will bring. Some people will face into it with optimism and joy. For others, there is more of a sense of dread and anxiety.

And for many, it may feel like just another day, month, year as life moves on and we grow older. One thing which we are not generally very good at is living in the present moment.

How often do we find ourselves thinking about the future, planning, catastrophising, making lists, rehearsing what we are going to say or do? Or going over the past, replaying our conversations, regretting the things we have done, wishing that we had taken that opportunity or avoided that pitfall?

The thing is, we don’t know what will come our way this year. It might be a year full of good things, happiness, satisfaction, achievement, progress. Or it might bring illness, bereavement, disappointment, broken relationships. Not all of this is within our control.

So what can we control?

We can control the way we meet with whatever comes. We can try to be our best selves, to show up, to be present in the moment and to assume that everyone else is doing their best. It isn’t always easy, because we are not angels. But we are people who are deeply loved by God, whoever we are, and whatever sort of life we live. So if we trust God to be with us, alongside us, within us, and if we make a point of turning back to God each time we mess us, then we have a very good chance of navigating this year with joy and becoming more and more fully who God has always wanted us to be.

Here are some words from a well known poem by Minnie Louise Haskins, written at the beginning of the last century:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”.

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”.

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.

May you find the hand of God in 2024, and may you know God’s blessing in every part of your life.

+Olivia, Bishop of Reading

Mother Earth, by recycling, are able to do so relatively easily. Thank you.

Paul Clarke, Wokingham