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There’s Nobody Living In the Living Room

Albert Bogle December 23, 2016 0 0
There’s Nobody Living In the Living Room

Living rooms can be bleak places at this time of the year. They look all dressed up with their tinsel and bobbles but underneath the tinsel there is an atmosphere that lingers in the air it says “no one is really living here.”  If only we could turn back the clock and start all over again?

I know we can’t change the past but we can make decisions that can change the future. Christmas is a wonderful time to think about forgiveness. I’m saying this because I know it is the key to bringing the peace we all long for at this time of the year.  However it is easier said than done. If we only spent more energy rekindling relationships what a warm and inviting place our living rooms could be not to mention our inner lives.

Joy is a promise we can still look forward to in the saddest moments of our lives.  During these times it is hard to believe or speak about joy especially when everything has fallen apart.  For the people of Aleppo this must be how it feels. There appears to be no  lasting hope, yet one day their sorrow will be turned to joy.  Nothing lasts for ever. Anger, hate and even fear must subside. We need to learn to prepare for the peace. 

We live among friends and families preparing to celebrate Christmas. We all know some are  keeping busy, trying to create the right festive atmosphere, spending time decorating their homes with candles and presents and Christmas tree lights. Yet they are hurting inside because of a broken relationship and nothing feels right.

All around the world today there are people once loved that can’t be named. People who are alive but who are thought of as dead. Yet their absence makes them present in every conversation and every mouthful of food at the Christmas family table.

If the Christmas Carol, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing” can remind us that God and sinners can be reconciled, surely sinners and sinners can also be reconciled to each other? 

Earlier this month it was the anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela. I often reflect on the change of heart that took place between Mandela and his capturers. I take inspiration from the story of Mandela. It is a great reminder that things do not need to remain the way they are. We can play our part in making the changes. 

It is of course God at work in hearts that can change a prisoner like Mandela and prison warden like James Gregory and turn them into friends. Nonetheless it starts with a first step. Stories like these are reminders that God is in the business of reconciling, enemies and turning them into friends. He is the great cosmic peacemaker. God is able to do what none of us can do by ourselves change mindsets and perspective. I was thinking about a song I wrote  with Iain Jamieson a few years ago  it’s about forgiveness. At the end of the day the song says, you want to make things better - forgiveness is the only way?  You can download the song from https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/turn/id553995603 .