Time to be CHEERED UP a Little!

The picture above should help to focus your thoughts on holidays, either past or future, and that's a cheering thought

--- lying on a beach in the sun, preferably in some exotic location.

With the cold days upon us, and snow already even though it's still only October, we need a little cheering up. Many years ago it was normal for the family to sit around a blazing fire, perhaps one thing that is sure to cheer even the most depondent person up --- a little at the very least. I remember getting the toasting fork out and toasting either bread or crumpets, afterwards savouring the spoil with an ample spread of good farmhouse butter.

Even the thought of it makes my mouth water ... mmmmmm!

Of course, the arrival of daylight saving time, which started last weekend, heralds the coming of Winter and dark afternoons when we all need to turn the lights on a little sooner than previously. Of course we all need to have light in our lives too, and what better to have than the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, to light up our lives, no matter what darkness we encounter in our daily lives. His is the light that overcomes all darkness, and lets even the sightless glimpse the glory of God!

Thoughts of Winter, coupled with thoughts of the Light of the World, turn our minds to the Nativity story, one that will be enacted throughout the world in a few weeks time, wherever Christians gather to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World.

It's a story that tells us of God's overwhelming love reaching down into an undeserving world, a world where people so often live in the shadows. God's love, personified in Christ, casts the shadows away and brings Light, Love, and Joy, into our lives once we learn to stand aside and let it flood in and over us.

This final picture, of the flower that heralds the Spring, was taken at Lake Vyrnwy in North Wales, and serves to remind us that God has a plan for our renewal and reconciliation; a plan that we can claim ownership of when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.