BISHOP'S DIARY- January

10:30am Sunday 4th January 2009

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YOU hear a lot at this time of year about ‘Christmas Spirit’ and ‘New Year’s resolutions’ but, sadly, most of us don’t make connections between the two.

If only, rather than deciding that eating less chocolate will be the most important thing that we will do in the New Year, we could cast our mind back to Christmas in order to hep us come up with some really significant New Year’s resolutions.

In a time of economic confusion and chaos what we need is a sustainable vision for the future – for ourselves and for the world. Visions are superficial and worthless unless they are rooted in values – and what better values in which to be grounded than those to which the term ‘Christmas spirit’ refers.

Christmas is about God’s love for his creation overflowing into his world. ‘Christmas spirit’, which derives from it, is about care and concern for one another, particularly the vulnerable. It has been said that the extent to which a society can be called civilised can be measured by how well it cares for the poorest and most vulnerable in its midst.

What if ‘Christmas spirit’ became the basis for our New Year’s resolutions – not just yours and mine but those of our politicians and leaders and everyone in our communities?

We would be able to develop a society with a vision which would be good news for everyone in it because it would be based not on materialism but on care for one another.

The peace and justice associated with ‘Christmas spirit’ would flow freely and we would all be able to enjoy something a bit like Christmas all year round.

It’s an inspiring vision, even though we might still need to eat less chocolate.

RT REV JOHN INGE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER