{"id":71357,"date":"2021-12-15T16:06:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T16:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/we-can-still-find-joy-in-anxious-times-says-rev-hall\/"},"modified":"2021-12-15T16:06:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T16:06:00","slug":"we-can-still-find-joy-in-anxious-times-says-rev-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/we-can-still-find-joy-in-anxious-times-says-rev-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"We can still find joy in anxious times, says Rev Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u2018Whatever Covid brings, love and grace are still available to give and receive,\u2019 was a timely reminder from the Rev Diana Hall on BBC Radio Scotland\u2019s <em>Thought for the Day<\/em> this morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Rector of St Anne\u2019s in Dunbar spoke about ways of finding true joy and peace this year, saying: \u201cA friend of mine recently described what we\u2019re doing in this season of the pandemic as enduring. But in the church calendar, the theme for this week of Advent is Gaudete! It means Rejoice, and it doesn\u2019t go on hold when the going gets tough. The invitation to joy comes no matter what\u2019s going on in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She continued: \u201cThe Psalms are full of references to joy and its importance in our lives. And in the New Testament, St Paul writes to the church at Philippi enjoining them to rejoice. He encourages them to let their gentleness be known to all; and advises them to pray, with thanksgiving, bringing their requests to God. This, he says, will result in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn these days of uncertainty, we may not feel very peaceful. Looking ahead might tempt us to anxiety. Staying in the moment can feel like a feat of endurance, and our resilience is being tested again. Yet in the midst of all of this, whatever Covid brings, love and grace are still available to give and receive. We know we\u2019ll need to be wise and careful as we make decisions about our festivities this year. Nevertheless there is still light to be found in the darkness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo matter what we are facing, may we find ways to give and receive what will bring us true joy and peace this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The full reflection from Ms Hall on the <em>Good Morning Scotland<\/em> programme can be heard again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sounds\/play\/m0012grp\">here<\/a> at the 1hr 23min mark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Whatever Covid brings, love and grace are still available to give and receive,\u2019 was a timely reminder from the Rev Diana Hall on BBC Radio Scotland\u2019s Thought for the Day this morning. The Rector of St Anne\u2019s in Dunbar spoke about ways of finding true joy and peace this year, saying: \u201cA friend of mine [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}