In the last scene of the film of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione says to Harry and Ron;
"Everything is going to change now isn't it".
After the unexpected ending of the Tri-wizard cup as Voldemort grows in strength, the three of them see that life is never going to be the same again.
The Harry Potter films have been on the TV over the last few nights and I started by half watching them but now I am hooked again.... As I was watching the Deathly Hallows last night I wondered if Harry Potter would be able to save 2016...... he seems to find a way through all sorts of adversity.
There has been a lot of good stuff happen in 2016, yes, but there has also been a lot of life changing and world changing stuff. The political climate is not the same as it was 12 months ago. As we look forward to 2016 being over we embrace the uncertainty of 2017 where the two big stories of the year - Brexit and Trump - will be rolled out in all of their uncertainty and unknowns.
Everything IS going to change now......
2016 has been a rocky year where celebrity deaths have overshadowed the deaths of so many more in natural disasters, terrorist attacks and war. Where we have celebrated those humans we see as heroes because they have achieved some kind of success we have forgotten again those who every day struggle to exist in a world that is working against them. It has been a year where our Olympic success was made all the more successful because of immigrants who have chosen to call Britain home - and we celebrate them as we create a hostile environment to keep any immigrants out who can't give us anything similar....
2016 has been the year of post-truth. Where lies flashed about on social media have become more important than the voices of the experts who have an in-depth knowledge of their field. Where a president elect can say what he wants and then can delete it the next day, diverting our eyes and ears to another set of half truths.... so confusing we either put our whole selves in to believing everything or we become such cynics everything becomes a lie.
I'm not sure 2017 is going to be any easier. As we watch the events of the world unfold and Toblerone loses more of its triangles and we grow in concern about the price of marmite I'm not sure we can predict much of what will be.
Harry, Ron and Hermione kept going in the adversity of Voldemort's growing strength because of their commitment to the truth of what is good and what was right. It would have been easier to join in, but they did not.
In the post truth world of 2017 - what should matter is not joining in because it's easier, but what should matter is the truth in which we are grounded in. If we live in a world grounded in lies then our foundations will only become more unstable. In the parable of the Wise men, Jesus talks about how if you build your foundations on the sand, eventually the storms will come and we will fall. However, if you build your foundations on the rock, eventually the storms will still come, but you will stand firm. In post truth society, what matters to me is that I am grounded in Christ - because it is in him I have certainty and it is in him I have truth. It is in him I know that there is more to life than the storms that are coming.
Yes everything will change but....
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" - Hebrews 13:8
Happy new year (I think).
