Taking the plunge
Rebecca and I spend New Year with a group of friends on the Devon coast who have developed the custom, common in such parts, of taking an invigorating dip in the ocean on the morning of New Year’s Day. For many years I eschewed what seemed to me a reckless and unnecessary practice, preferring to stay on the beach, safely swathed in several layers of wool. For some daft reason, last year I decided to join the bathers and (as I write, sat cosily by a log fire) am currently weighing up whether to do so again. Needless to say, it was breathtakingly cold but also huge fun.
Taking the plunge into something new always takes a measure of determination and mutual encouragement, I think. It helps if others are doing it alongside us, and things are no different when it comes to our faith. A step forward – perhaps being Confirmed, as so many have been in recent months – or into a new church responsibility, is a fine and necessary thing to do if we consider ourselves to be Christians. For Christ is the ‘way’ and those who follow him are called to a pilgrim’s progress through life.
What fresh new thing might the Lord be asking you to consider in the months ahead? This may mean shedding or leaving behind something that is no longer right. In the light of this season, then, may we encourage one another to join and enjoy ‘the new’, knowing the Lord goes ahead, calling us forward.
- Bishop Andrew