THE lights are on, decorations up – and once more we are celebrating the time of Christmas. Years ago when we left County Hall after finishing work on Christmas Eve we knew that the complex would remain closed and silent over the festive period. How wonderful therefore that on Christmas Day it now comes to life in a spectacular way with a festive lunch. Our grateful thanks must be to all those very kind and generous people who use this time to bring joy to many who otherwise would be so lonely. 
This is of course only one of the many acts of kindness taking place at this time of year.
It is so good to remember, however, that central to all the celebrations, the message first heard by the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago is still so true today. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.
Soon the dark days of December will be passing, and as we look forward to a new year, which to many may also be a time of uncertainty, those words spoken by King George VI so many years ago are still an encouragement: “I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safety into the unknown’. And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way. So I went forth finding the Hand of God, and gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East’.”
Stanley H Jones
Horse Road
Hilperton Marsh