This Advent, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall tells us an amazing story of survival – of three fishermen who survived adrift at sea for seven long months: “What kept the fishermen going, so they said afterwards, were their faith in God and their memories of home and family…The story shows the power of memory and hope. It tells us a lot about the Christian life and about Advent in particular…We remember Christ born in Bethlehem, his amazing life…That life gives us hope that Christ will embrace us for eternity. Memory gives birth to hope…This Advent, please remember and hope.”
“But the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. The light isn’t fully and completely here yet, but it does point to a new and different kind of future. It holds out hope. We’ve seen the breaking dawn of a new future. The child born in Bethlehem promises a new future for us all and gives us hope…”
The Rev’d Andrew Schmidt reflects on self-help books: “They are the social equivalent of the photo-shopped celebrities that cannot be attained, but still people pay for the privilege of the dream. Just buy the book, follow the trademarked 7-step path to a more fulfilled life, eat this diet to a healthier heart chakra. I could go on”
‘Hope may seem like a strange thing to describe as radical in the context of Christmas….it is not a hope for self, or even a hope for someone we know, but rather it is a hope that goes wider,’ reflects The Rev’d Andrew Schmidt