11 Dec good news?

Often in the media tragedy and violence dominate the headlines.

This has the consequence of giving the false impression that kindness and compassion are rare.  This can also lead to a kind of paralysing despair for people about whether things will ever be different or whether they can be part of that change.

The reality is that as well as the great pain and cruel violence that are part of our global village’s story, there are also 100s and 100s of ordinary people doing extraordinary compassionate work and their work is making a difference.

I see this is so many places, in the volunteers at our Food Centre here in Richmond, in friendships people make that transcend cultural and economic divides, and also in little pockets all over the place.

Below is a short video about some of the work of my friend and colleague Rev Natalie Dixon-Manu.  She is also one of these people and I invite you to take a few moments to watch it.

As we journey towards the mystery of Christmas, and the celebration that the divine comes with extravagant openness in Jesus, being invited to recall that this beautiful love is continuing to flow might just be a little of the good news that we need to hear.

Rev Dr Sally Douglas