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Header graphic for coastal parishes. Shows images of the three church buildings, the coastal parishes logo, and text 'Coastal Parishes North Devon' and 'The church of England in Woolacombe, Mortehoe and Lee', with a background image of Woolacombe Bay. Overlayed image of St Sabinus - Woolacombe Overlayed image of St. Mary's - Mortehoe Overlayed image of St. Matthew's - Lee

Embracing the New

An image of a few favorite thingsWill the new year be as familiar as a pair of old slippers, or an opportunity for a new beginning?

I wonder how you spent your New Year celebration.  Did you have company as you popped a cork and raised a glass to whatever the next year bring?  Perhaps you slept through it, oblivious to the fireworks and chanting of the familiar ‘Auld Lang Syne’.  For some, it represents a great opportunity to party, while for others, perhaps it seems a poor relation following so hot on the heels of Christmas.

It made me reflect on how we embrace the ‘new’.  New year, new relationships, new circumstances, new possessions – I could go on.

To have something new can be wonderful.  To do something new stretches us.  However, unsurprisingly, there is comfort in the familiar.  My dear husband had a couple of new wallets given to him over the years, but he persisted in using the one with the broken catch that fitted perfectly in his back pocket, and I am sure you know what I mean about old slippers

For some, the New Year is an opportunity for a new beginning and the freedom to start again.  For others it can be a fearful prospect as they step into the unknown territory of poor health or family breakdown. 

However we regard the prospect of something new, whether that is something we choose or something we find ourselves thrown into, change is very much a part of life.  Our seasons change, our bodies change, our understanding of life changes over time.  Change can be painful.  Even positive change can prove to be more difficult than we anticipated, yet in those times we are forced out of our comfort zones to find new ways to navigate life, we can often look back and see how it helped us grow as people.  Even in the darkest of times, there are seeds planted which can grow into something good.

So as we step out into this New Year, whether there is much to look forward to or not, be assured of God’s presence beside us and his promise, spoken long ago by the prophet Isaiah, (43:19),

‘Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert’. 

What a wonderful assurance!

Revd Susan