The recent good news about the successful vaccine trials indicates a Covid-19 vaccination programme is becoming a likely scenario sooner, rather than later.

It is a definite glimmer of hope in what has been a dismal year.

And hope is what is needed right now to get us through the dreary winter months.

With further lockdowns and restrictions looming and the necessary social distancing rules and isolation continuing, it is reassuring to know there is light at the end of the tunnel.

We still have our part to play though.

We cannot afford to become complacent at this most critical of times. Wearing masks and cutting back on social activities is going to be a part of our daily life for the foreseeable future.

We shouldn’t view it as an inconvenience, but as a positive way of protecting our loved ones, of showing consideration towards our fellow human beings, as an act of kindness to others.

For people of faith, in times of trouble, we find hope within our Holy Books.

In the Baha’i Writings we are told to “Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers “ and to “Lift up your hearts above the present and look with eyes of faith into the future”.

We all have a moral and civic duty to act responsibly but, we also know that, when we draw on our inner spiritual strength to give courage and hope, to sustain us and help us sustain others, we attract the grace and bounty of an All-Merciful God.