— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Have you ever considered that there is no AD 0? This is more than just a fun fact. It shows how the Christian calendar challenges secular, biological, and most significantly, personal calendars. In this the first Midweek Meditation of 2026, I want to reflect on how a calendar can determine not only the measurement of time but also our perception of time. For I believe that the calendar we observe can alter our reality and the way we live our lives.
That Jesus’s birth is used to demarcate the beginning of a new epoch, dividing the time before from the time after, seems self-evident. From a Christian perspective it was a shocking supernatural event that changed the world: the Lord came down from heaven and was incarnated as man for us and for our salvation. Accordingly, His birth shouldn’t just mean moving our clocks’ hands an hour back or an hour forward!
That A(nno) D(omini) 1 is in turn the first ‘year of our Lord’ also demands that we reconsider the meaning of past, present, and future. The three concepts are fused as one in His person, which divine phenomenon challenges our secular division of time. There is a fundamental continuity in His being. Looking back, Jesus’ descent from heaven fulfils what the prophets had spoken. We have been recently reminded of this in many Advent readings (e.g., “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel”, Isaiah 7:14) God’s incarnation as man is equally forward-looking: Jesus comes to earth for us and our future salvation. Indeed, that familiar Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” makes a compelling claim of it (“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight”)! This newborn baby is going to make right what’s wrong with the world.
That later, after His death and resurrection, Jesus promised the disciples that He would be with them “always, to the very end of the age” holds as true for believers today as it did when He gave His final orders (Matthew 28:20). We are no longer to fear mortal death and despair about the passage of time on earth. Instead, we are to anticipate His coming again soon in a new heaven and a new earth, where there will be no sun or moon, no day or night (Revelations 21:1, 22 as well as 22:5).
Considering all of the above, how far can we say that we ‘keep time’ in the everyday reality that we inhabit and during the ordinary lives that we follow? For my part, I find too often that the personal calendar I refer to is misaligned, out of sync with the Christian. Time then seems ‘out of joint’ and being baptized in the church, I feel that I have to set it right.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 
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