light in the darkness

Shovelling snow is something I think I could now do in my sleep!

A lot more of that today, with another morning's worth of steady snow, leaving a further thick-piled carpet over all the paths and ground.

We had a long-wheel base van stuck in the car park and sliding in such a way that it completely blocked the entrance to the car park. A challenge to dig and shovel that one out, but we managed in the end - wth the help of two of the doctors from the local surgery who were out themselves to shovel some snow since there was a distinct lack of patients.

You can tell, though, that folk are getting just a little bit weary of yet more snow. Sound travels further when the snow's on the ground - which meant that I overheard a driver up on the main road (where traffic was crawling at best) regaling another fellow driver with a three-word rebuke, "You xxxxx idiot!"

Frustration and tiredness as much as anger or blame was the root of such remarks, I suspect (and it wasn't the only remark like that which I overheard today!).

It's cold, it's dark, and it's getting increasingly depressing for a lot of folk. So the reading today from 'biblefresh' was more than apt.

'Biblefresh' is "a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the Word of God,[whose] vision is to make 2011 a year of the Bible to help individuals and the whole church gain greater skill in handling the scriptures and a greater passion for hearing and obeying the Bible."

We've signed up to it.

I'm using through these days a series of biblefresh 'Advent Reflections' which, according to the covering note, "are based on material from WordLive, Scripture Union's free, daily, multimedia guide available at http://www.wordlive.org/" (https://www.scriptureunion.org.uk/89157.id).

Today's passage is Isaiah 9.2-7

Reflect: God raised Isaiah's vision to the future hope that would one day be fulfilled in Jesus. Even though Isaiah couldn't have known how or when God would do it, he sees clearly theh birth of a baby - the one who would be called 'Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.' In a dark world, God's light shines in Jesus.

Pray: for opportunities today to share his light.

Well, there have been opportunities all right to share his light - in all sorts of practical ways.

For all those who, for a whole variety of reasons, feel like they are people walking in darkness, may that great light, the light of God's presence and love, shine upon them and open up for them a future bright with hope and possibilities