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Philippa Gibson

People do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:15

When I was younger and living at home my older brother used to play the piano. He was one of those annoying people who could play by ear without any lessons. So he would play hymn after hymn and songs that we would hear in church, and I used to sing along (or even worse attempt to accompany him on the flute!) The other weekend I had Songs of Praise on in the background and they sang ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ and ‘Give Thanks’. It took me back to a time when singing with my brother gave me so much happiness.

Since that weekend I haven’t stopped singing these particular songs under my breath. I travel to work every day by tube and have done since the pandemic started. My work has evolved and changed dramatically over the last 9 weeks; from training our children’s intensive care nurses to work in adult intensive care, to supporting our nurses with all the changes and hardships they now face at work and home, and my own work/life balance has altered too; I now work full time with the children in school as I am a keyworker.

Even through all the stress and sadness that we have faced at work I can see that there are so many things to be grateful for in this changed world. People now are socially interactive in a whole new way and families are spending quality time with each other (Paul has now been present at every bed time since the beginning of March, whereas before he was never home in time to help put the children to bed). Essentially I find there is still so much to ‘Give Thanks’ to God for. And as for Jesus shining and filling our land with his glory, grace and mercy- well to me he does that every day through the shining of the sun, through people’s extraordinary kindness to strangers at this time and the new togetherness that has empowered us to get through this Pandemic together and look out for one another.

So these are my ‘thoughts’ for today. The knowledge that no matter what happens in this world Jesus continues to shine through the darkness, there is light in this world and there is always so much to give thanks to God for.
 
Prayer: We give thanks for all the good that has happened in these past few months, however small and surprising and that Jesus’s light continues to shine in our own worlds, however dark they may appear at times.  Amen.

Prayer Request: For school leaders, teachers & other staff who have continued to provide support to key worker families during the pandemic and especially today as more children return to school; for protection, wisdom & creativity as they adjust to new ways of working.