Comment by Harborough churches: Knowing that people care in these times of uncertainty is a real blessing

Viewpoint by the Rev Stephen Haward, Minister of Market Harborough Congregational Church

Christmas cards seem to have been arriving earlier this year. Is this partly because there are so many other things we cannot do? It seems that sooner than usual, we have run out of excuses not to sit down, write those cards, stick on a seasonal stamp and get them posted.

After months of Zoom conferencing, the physical act of sending and receiving actual put-up-in-the-living-room cards is worthwhile.

Also, in a Christmas card we can write a few words to tell the reader (and perhaps ourselves) how we are feeling at this time. I have one in front of me now which says, ‘we are bearing up, but it so difficult not to be able to make any plans’.

True that! The pandemic has made it almost impossible to plan with any certainty.

In a recent article Janet Street-Porter said (vegetarians look away) she had ordered a turkey to collect on Christmas Eve but had so far failed to persuade anyone at all to take the risk of coming to visit and help eat it.

The truth is that not knowing what is going to happen is really stressful. There is a theory that the experience of having the Vikings turning up at irregular intervals to wreck our coastal communities has affected the English psyche for the last thousand years.

Compared with many other nations we do still seem to distrust long-term planning and are not fantastically good at it. Uncertainty affects people deeply.

That is one of the reasons why faith matters and makes such a difference. I think of Abraham in the Old Testament in the Bible, who stepped out in faith ‘not knowing where he was going’ and thereby found the blessing of the Lord. And this current season of Advent is a time for looking ahead through present difficulties with confidence even if (as in a child’s advent calendar) we do not know the detail of what will be revealed each day.

Some years ago a member of our church envisaged the need for Harborough, even comfortable Harborough, to have a Foodbank. He had no idea how it would develop, and many were uncertain whether it was really necessary.

But under the able leadership of Liz Mills and the help of people of all faiths and none, the Jubilee Foodbank has provided thousands of meals this year where they were most needed – and the work goes on in this Advent season.

Not knowing how many people are coming for Christmas dinner, or when on earth we can have a holiday, or when all kinds of activities will be permitted, is not pleasant. But knowing that people care, help is available and no one in our community needs to go hungry - well that’s a real blessing!