A CHRISTMAS REFLECTION, DECEMBER 2014 

Dear Friends Around the World,

Yesterday, Tuesday 16th of December I was in Glasgow. When I returned I sat down to write a Christmas Reflection. I waited for ages looking at the blank page. It was one of these days when there are many thoughts but they are somehow unable to transfer themselves to paper! I turned on the TV and heard for the first time the news of the terrible tragedy in Pakistan. The deaths of countless children and some of their teachers came just a day after the tragic murders in central Sydney. Like millions in the world I was heart-broken for the children in Peshawar and their families. And also for our world in which there is seemingly endless sorrow this Christmas. I had also just had the news that my elder son Eldon is later this week, once again, going to Iraq, to head up the new UK Military of Defence training programmes alongside the Iraqi military. This is a huge task for Eldon and his 300 colleagues, especially in the area of land-mine disposal. We think too of all the families involved. 

And then came today. A new day. When I opened my e-mails there was a message from a good friend Karen in Canada. Karen’s husband Dirk, a man of compassion and wisdom died earlier this year, and by e-mail we have been talking about these often dark days following the loss of someone close to us. And also about the love of family and friends which surround us at such times.  In her message Karen included a few lines written in 1986 by a friend of hers, Diane. I share them with you not only because they are such beautiful words but also because they speak to us prophetically in these days of Christmas. I am sure they link us all in our world where hope and sorrow always  companion  one another. Thank you Diane for helping us to be re-connected to the One who comes each day to restore our deep humanity. 

                              So much agony, near, far and within oneself;

                              yet, there is still CHRISTMAS -

                              a brief, vital pause  -  

                              THE SHINE OF LOVE.

      Peter, with warm wishes from Edinburgh.

At Christmas

It’s easy to despair

as we think of the world 

this Christmas.

The conflicts that mark our age,

the beheadings  we can watch,

the myriad hatreds running  deep,

the millions dispossessed

 as a planet groans in pain.

And rightly we ask,

does the old tale hold against such odds?

That story of Light, of Love, of Hope –

is it still around?

“It’s there in the darkness”

says a tender voice.

For it’s where the stars don’t shine

that Love is present;

and even in the blood and tears

is the One who suffers and heals;

not somewhere else, but in our midst, 

as on the first Christmas morning.

                                Peter Millar, Edinburgh, Christmas 2014.  

                  (No copyright. Please feel free to share this short reflection.)