Changes:

As I write this morning I am struck by the fact that many things are changing today. 

• It is the shortest day of the year. It is still 24 hours more or less if we are to be absolutuely accurate. But it is the day of the least amount of day light. That means that after today all will change. Instead of a contraction of day light and a steady lowering of the sun in the sky things will begin to brighten. It is a day of hope: spring is on the way!

• Before Spring can arrive there are 12 weeks (more or less) of winter to contend with. The good news is that spring is on the way and I suppose to some the bad news of the day is that Autumn is now behind us and all is change because we are in the first day of WINTER! To some that is a great dread.Cold and frost is what we expect but so far it is warm and wet. The temperature today in Looe is expected to reach the dizzy heights od 12degrees Centigrade (that shows mt age!). The new season it seems at present is not very new at all.

• Another thing that changes from todayish (perhaps something of Cornwall is rubbing off!) is that the Christmas season begins in earnest. It is the last Saturday before the big day and therefore likely to be the busiest shopping day of the year so far. There are only 4 sleeps to Christmas which is magical for children and probably distressing for most who are beyond their childish ways. There is a spirit of Christmas that has dawned and is growing by the minute. I saw it best in ASDA last night, people, people people and all of them in my way! Why is it that others meet up in supermarkets just in front of where I am trying to see if the product on the shelf is reall what I want?  The spirit of Christmas also showed it's Ugly head as the Boscarn turfed out the clubbers at 2:00 am. A fight just outside my window woke us up and left me annoyingly sleepless for hours. My spirit damaged I am afraid to say for the day!

 But yet winter is also a time of hope and a looking forward. It is a time of rest for nature. I always envy hibernating animals. Going to bed when it starts to get cold and dark and waking up to the new beginning of spring. The earth is being purged of bad things by the cold and damp in readiness for the harvest of the new year.

Winter is similar to many of life's experiences in that it may be difficult for a season but it reaps a blessing far beyond compare. Without winter nature would be in a mess, it needs the restful months of winter.

How true that is for us as humans:

We need to rest.

In order that we begin well for the new year and in readiness for all that comes upon us. 

My advise for this new and ever changing season is to take the rest that it affords and be prepared for the future.

I wrote recently about what Christmas really means to me and not seeing the necessity of putting Christ back into a celebration but I do believe in the necessity of Jesus who came to bring peace with God being brought right into the hearts of all. He is the way of truth and life and through him our own winter of discontent can bring forth a life of hope and promise.