With the New Year of 2021 just around the corner, our attention turns to the future. It is appropriate this Advent Season to envision what that future might look like. (No prediction is 100% reliable, but some are more probable than others.)

With vaccines now available, the plague known as the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 will come to an end. This will have a profound effect on everyday life for all of us. The New Year holds the promise of life returning to somewhat normal. Churches will be able to resume in-person worship services. Schools will be able to once again hold in-person class sessions. Businesses will reopen. Restaurants will return to full, in-person capacity. But let us not forget to pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones. The abrupt end of so many lives around the world has been devastating to family after family. We need to pray for one another as we come to terms with the consequences.