Good News for You Best or Worst – A Choice

"It was the best of times; the worst of times..."

Charles Dickens introduces his Tale of Two Cities, with similar impact on today’s readers as when he published it in 1859.

“The worst of times” are so accessible. Press a button; flick on a remote; click on a mouse; tap a keypad; pick up the tone of conversations around us or online through social media. Plus, the “whine wireless” of talkback radio, complete with shock jocks, rigid attitudes, and insatiable appetites for sensation and gossip…

With 24/7 news channels bringing us the latest on all that’s happening, and much of our entertainment focusing on violence, suspicion and sleaze, there are negatives aplenty. This is our world, or part of it.

True, we can’t move back to smoke signals communication or living in caves designed by Stone Age architects. Yet by opening ourselves to the possibilities of faith, we can move forward.

That’s by faith more than by religion, which has often sadly fed suspicion and self-righteousness, to widen the divisions and distrust. Terrorists inflict barely imaginable pain and misery and then try to throw flimsy cloaks of religion over it all. Then there’s the emotional and spiritual damage wrought by preachers who lust for the eternal doom of the wicked – or of anyone who disagrees with them. Each extreme defends religion, while ironically denying God’s true nature.

Faith exposes “the worst of times” in us all, whatever our status, while also showing that “the best of times” are only an honest prayer away. As we open our hearts and minds to receive God’s grace, we find him building us up, to keep us from quitting too soon or expecting a limitless supply of instant miracles on demand…

Christmas is all about God offering his best through Jesus’ arrival, his teaching, and his ministry. And through Jesus’ death and resurrection, he has taken and defeated our very worst, so we may choose to step into his love for our whole world - love that’s strong enough to maintain the perspective and the energy that we need for making any lasting difference.

His love guides us into his values and patience, so we may keep recognising - and working towards – his immediate and his ultimate purposes. And he invites us to join him in transforming “the worst of times,” confident that he’s at work to bring about his best outcomes for everyone.

Noel Mitaxa