I DON'T know about you, but 2022 was a bit of a mixed bag of a year with lots of ups and downs, with a lot of uncertainty in the year.

I was often never sure of what was going to happen in the year, and just when everything seemed to be okay something else happened.

It was a year that saw many momentous events happen, and 2023 looks to be the same, especially as we have a Coronation in May. 

The year 2023 will be a year of uncertainty, as we enter it bringing with us lots of unresolved matters, and they will be with us for some time. As I look forward to 2023 and that uncertainty, I also look to the cross.

I look to the cross, for the cross reminds me of the certainty that I have in Jesus; of how He came to visit us having His dwelling with us; through His living among us He learned what it meant to be human with our struggles.

The cross reminds me that Jesus is with me in all that I do, providing me with hope that this life is not all that there is, but rather that Jesus has provided a way forward.

A way forward to be with Him in heaven. This hope of being with Jesus in heaven, reminds me that no matter what I am going through, it is only temporary for I will be with Jesus in heaven forever, when my time comes.

Therefore, my aim for this year is to keep looking to the cross to be reminded of the hope I have in Jesus. Why don’t you join me in that?

Happy New Year. 

Rev Lewis Eden

Assistant Curate in the Crediton Mission Hub