'We find ourselves surveying 2012 in its fledgling possibility yet so achingly aware of its ugliness too.'

New Year wearing an old story

You have stood with us in this place before, O God.
You have joined us as we stand upon the brink of a new year.
You have joined us in our hopes and fears as we attend to the sweep of human history ... from the vantage point of this newness.

We find ourselves surveying 2012 in its fledgling possibility
... yet so achingly aware of its ugliness too.

It is the dawn of another year which sees such poverty and destruction visited upon your ... bountiful creation and your beautiful people.

There is so much that still festers and seems broken beyond repair in our relationships across nations and within communities.

This New Year vantage point cannot shield us from the burdens we carry and the burdens ... carried so achingly by our sisters and brothers.

Which is why you bid us attend again to a story that has been told and must continue to ... be told if we are to know our place and our purpose here.

You speak to us of creation’s promise and of humanity’s redemption.
You offer us a baby in Bethlehem and a host of ad hoc followers discovering,
          as must we,
                   what following might mean.

Following means grasping hold of hope in your tremendous goodness.

Following means trusting that you will walk with us into all that 2012 might bring just as         Jesus walked with young and old into the reality of Palestine
and the wonder of each day’s moments.

Following means hearing again and again the scriptures read and unfolded as we sit alone with our Bibles or gather with others for sermons and songs.

Following means allowing for the reality of the Holy Spirit to direct and defend our lives against all that might diminish us and turn us from your pathways.

Following means hoping that your love might take root amongst us so that your Kingdom        might insinuate itself into all the nooks and crannies of our world.

Following means being constantly surprised that your Kingdom’s vigour is way beyond our           imagination or the scope of our work.

Following you means that we live on into the glory and goodness of this year in the knowledge that it is already the realm of your purposes
                   and the resting place of your presence.

So may we be brave in the face of 2012:
          open to its possibilities and its secrets as yet unrevealed,
                   sure of its blessedness,
                             mindful of its challenges.

And may we never loose sight that,
          beside us,
                   behind us,
                             beyond us,
                                      you are.

Amen!

This reflection and prayer has been written by the Rev Neil Thorogood, Director of Pastoral Studies at Westminster College, Cambridge.

Neil teaches pastoral theology on all the academic programmes and also has particular interests in the visual arts and theology. He is also a contributor to Christian Aid's daily readings.

• Visit Christian Aid's daily readings page