For many, January has been a time of confusion with world events dominating our lives.
For others it has been a time of joy, particularly for our local children whose summer holidays are drawing to a close and the time to return to school is approaching quickly.
Our local high school students may have some uncertainty. Some may have some anxiety.
I have said in recent weeks that when anxiety comes, turning to Christ is a very real opportunity for comfort and guidance.
Our local teachers are also not exempt from the uncertainty that the students may have.
There may be resentment, even a desire to seek a kind of justice that courts are unable to deliver.
Parents too face the need to comfort their children as the return to face the reality of the catastrophic events of the fire at the end of last year.
The emotions are real, and can sometimes guide us in a way that is unhelpful, those emotions can draw us from God.
The uncertainties in life can help us to stop, take stock, and turn to Jesus.
One of the favourite passages used when the church celebrates the life of someone whose mortal life has ended is John 14:1-6.
It is a piece of scripture set within the Last Supper.
Jesus himself faces the uncertainty of the cross and the fulfilment of the promises of God. In short, he faces his own death.
He says these words: “Do not let your hearts be troubled”.
This is a message many of us in Deni, and beyond, need to hear.
The disciples who surrounded Jesus would have had anxieties similar to those that are faced by students, teachers and parents as school begins again, but Jesus has it covered with his own words of reassurance backed up by the love and promises of God the Father.
As students return to school, as teachers return to teaching in classrooms in whatever form that might take, and as parents send their kids to school - some for the first time - the words of Jesus can help us face the future with confidence.
My prayer for us all is simple: “Do not let your hearts be troubled”. The words of Jesus himself, what could be better than that!
~ Contributed by Fr Tim Fogo from St Paul’s Anglican Church, on behalf of the Combined Churches of Deniliquin.
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