Life is not the fairy tale that growing up we expected it to be. Life is hard. Life is hard for everyone. The rich have problems. The poor have problems. The young have challenges. The old have challenges. Some days are wonderful, but some days are downright painful. I can hear Judy Garland singing: “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. Someday I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me, where troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops that’s where you’ll find me.” The Wizard of Oz is a fairy tale. But even in that fairy tale, the land of Oz was hardly the place of dreams. Life is not a fairy tale. Life is hard for everyone. There is a lot of anxiety, fear, uncertainty and pain as we begin the year 2021 together. Hear the words of Jesus, “Be not afraid.” This Sunday the people of God will gather for worship in the sanctuary and online. Our lives are a mess and yet we are people of hope, people who understand that God is with us in the mess, and we are in this mess together. God loves you - He really does!