Are you looking forward to the New Year with a feeling of foreboding or a spirit of hope and optimism?: An Advent Reflection

To be sure, there are many reasons to feel hopeless as we enter 2013:  The continuing threat of unchecked climate change; the countless children going hungry each and every day – at home as well as abroad; the impact of hikes in energy and food prices and squeeze on incomes; the imminent housing benefit cuts for three quarters of a million households; the seeming war of attrition against almost anyone struggling to make ends meet on benefits; the forced eviction of thousands of families from London.

On a more domestic note, will 2013 be yet another year of declining congregations, continued division over sexuality, theology and much else, and ever greater financial pressures on many local churches?

In the face of all this, do we still believe…