Naomi Baldwin is making and unmaking plans

I love Christmas songs. Yes, I know it’s February, but as I write this column, it’s early December, so bear with me. Pop songs, worship songs, hymns and carols. . . they’re all on my playlist. One of my favourites is, ‘Mary Did You Know?’

‘Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm the storm with his hand?’

For the internet savvy – Tl;dr. The answer is: No. (For the non-internet-savvy, translation at the end of this article!)

No, she didn’t know, because how could anyone, let alone a poor 14-year-old, possibly have known of all the incredible things that her son would go on to do? One could say that the Old Testament foretold most of what Jesus was going to do and how he would live and die. However, most people were so surprised at what he did when he eventually fulfilled all those prophecies that I think it’s safe to say Mary had little knowledge of how much her life was going to change, even beyond the usual difficulties of having a baby in ancient Bethlehem.

At this time of year, we often make our new year’s resolutions, determined to ensure that this year will be the one where we keep all our promises. According to a survey by Strava, most people have given up on their health and fitness-based resolutions by 12 January. While having long given up on the fitness goal option, I do have a whole box of half-used diaries I was determined to journal in every day… you can work out why they had all remained half-empty. Because, despite all the plans we make and the certainties we try to put into our lives – like taking out memberships, or investing in new equipment for a new hobby – you cannot plan for the day things don’t go to plan, or for a change to your motivations, or just the quantity of available spare time in which to work towards your new goal…

Naomi Baldwin is a carer

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This is an extract from an article published in the February 2022 edition of Reform

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