So, here we are, at the beginning of another New Year. You may be a bit cynical about it - it’s just another day - or you may have made all sorts of resolutions to do things better, be better, achieve more and avoid making mistakes in the coming year.

Sometimes we set our expectations of ourselves unreasonably high, so that we are almost bound to fail, and that can happen more at the start of a New Year than any other time.  I’ll wager that – whatever our resolutions may be – we will make mistakes in 2019 as we do every year, despite our best intentions.  That may not be such a bad thing however.  Neil Gaiman had something interesting to say on the subject:
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, & changing your world.”

Sometimes we try to organise things in our lives to eliminate risk; risk can be scary, outcomes uncertain, we may prefer to stick with what we know and can calibrate. But if we never take any risks, we lose the opportunity to make new discoveries about ourselves and our potential, and the mistakes that we will
inevitably make will teach us something about how to go forward in the future.
Mistakes can be:
Messages that give us feedback about ourselves and about life.
Interruptions that should cause us to think
Signposts that direct us to the right path
Tests that push us towards greater maturity
Awakenings that reveal truth
Keys for unlocking doors of opportunity
Ex plorations that allow us to journey to new places & situations
Statements about life, and our progress & development

For me, I trust in God to lead me, which doesn’t mean I never make mistakes,
because I have to try and discern what it is God is trying to direct me towards, and what new things he is telling me to explore – and I know I often get that one wrong!
Whether you have made resolutions or not, I pray that you will know that God has a big eraser; and that the mistakes we make can lead us into better knowledge and greater truth.

Happy New Year!
Rev’d Chris

Vicar: The Revd. Christine Musser, The Vicarage, The Green, Pirbright,
GU24 0JE Tel 01483 473332; revdchrismusser@gmail.com
Pirbrightchurch.org.uk
Churchwardens: 
Catherine Cobley 01483 481234;  Pauline Cannon 01252 326534