Today is Tuesday the 7th of January in the season of Christmas. The community of Taizé sing Gott ist nur Liebe. ‘God is nothing but love. Dare to give all for love. Give yourselves without fear.’ Gott ist nur Liebe. Wagt, für die Liebe alles zu geben. Gott ist nur Liebe. Gebt euch ohne Furcht. Today’s reading is from the First Letter of John. 1 John 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ‘God is love.’ How does that statement measure up in the world of suffering all around us? Suffering that is perhaps even directly affecting you right now? You might choose to spend some time today with the ‘suffering servant’, Jesus, God’s own Son. He came to be one of us, to experience how much we grieve, to feel our pain, to know our sense of abandonment. Spend some time now sitting with these thoughts and feelings. Let any sense of empathy - your own, or that of Christ - flow between you. Recall any scenes of grief, pain, and abandonment in the life of Christ. Is there one scene that stays with you? Sit with Christ in that scene. Take your time. As you hear the passage again, what do you think compelled God to send Jesus to live amongst us? Use your own, everyday language to try and express what was involved in that Godly decision. As this time of reflection comes to a close, speak with God. You might want to ask for a renewed awareness of God’s love, and of the suffering of Jesus. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday 7 January 2025