I love sparkly lights, a gorgeous sunrise, an uplifting sunset, but on these darker days, the days when it can be wet, cold and the nights seem long, and when there are days when the sun forgets to come out at all, things can feel bleak. Over Christmas we had opportunities to admire lit up windows, households decorated with lights and tourist attractions producing magical light shows, I love them.
Many of the world’s religions have a festival involving light in the winter months. It’s at the darkest time of year that we need to be intentional about focussing on light.
Our own wellbeing is based on the same principle. Life, in varying degrees has it’s darker, more stressful and overwhelming moments. At those times, our attention can be focussed on all that is wrong. Focussing on the negative creates a vicious circle of negativity and, if we’re not careful, we can be all consumed by the ‘darkness’.
Working at home can be noisy and distracting, uncertain futures can leave us feeling low, sometimes we just need a break, a time to ourselves.
So if today, things feel darker, more stressful and overwhelming, know firstly that this time will pass. But also know that while we shouldn’t ignore the darkness, our best defence against it is to spend some time focussing on the light, being aware of the need to escape, to find a space that is bright and warm and peaceful and away from all distractions!
As well as being open every day, 9am to 3pm, like all our local churches; Milverton Parish Church will be offering “Time Out Tuesdays” from the New Year until Easter, every Tuesday evening, 6pm to 7.30pm…it will be a space to relax in the warm and light, gentle music playing, opportunities to reflect and rest. Wifi is available, and activities to engage with, a post-box for requests for prayer or for contact information and conversation if you need it. This will be a space where there will be peace and quiet, no supervision and no judgement. A space for you to just be, until the lighter days come and the hope of Spring and Easter arrive. There is no catch, no charge, no commitment…this is a gift from the church community to you…with our love and our hope of brighter times ahead.
Helene
