Vicar's Letters
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October 2008
In her fascinating book, ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’, Philippa Pearce explores the mystery of time. Tom Long has to stay with his Aunt and Uncle in a flat and is in quarantine because his brother has measles. He finds time plays tricks on him – going agonisingly slowly when he wants it to pass quickly and flying past when he wants the present to last. Then he discovers that the big grandfather clock in the hall is colluding with him, allowing him to enjoy the companionship and adventure he craves by stopping time until he returns to his bed. The clock has an inscription, ‘Time no longer’ (Revelation 10.6) which puzzles Tom until the story reaches its very satisfying conclusion.
Probably the best known passage on ‘time’ is Ecclesiastes 3.1-8 which observes that there is a time for everything and then lists examples. There follows a reflection on this truth which is thought-provoking: ‘God has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.’
The eternity that God has set in our hearts is the seed of longing for him. As St. Augustine observed, ‘God has made us for himself and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in him.’ In her book on Advent, ‘The Coming of God’ Sister Maria Boulding describes that longing beautifully: ‘God creates in human hearts a huge desire and a sense of need, because he wants to fill them with the gift of himself.’
People have asked me if my time in these parishes has gone quickly and I am at a loss to answer. It seems much more than 6 ½ years since I first came here and yet I can still remember the feelings as clearly as if it were last year. When I look back on my time with you I cannot see why God brought me to this place. I can only hope that I have done something of what he intended and I decided to be content with that. I certainly can’t fathom what God has done in 6 ½ years let alone what he has done from beginning to end!
The inscription that so puzzled Tom, ‘Time no longer’ is true for me and for you now. It is time no longer, a new time is beginning and the best we can do is ask God to give these parishes a priest who will be open to God’s Word and willing to follow Christ’s example of service and love for ‘this is our God, the Servant King’.
September 2008
Dear Friends,
I recently heard the presenter of a popular music radio programme confess that originally he had strongly supported the move to permit shops and the like to open on Sundays, but had now changed his mind. He admitted that the time when Sunday was different from every other day had many benefits and was sorry that ‘we can’t turn the clock back’.
God gave Moses the ten commandments and included among them: ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.’ (Exodus 20.8 and Deuteronomy 5.12) He didn’t make these ‘laws’ for his own benefit, nor for the purpose of boosting his own image. All the commandments he gave were for the benefit of us, his people. Some of them are written into our legal system (You shall not steal; you shall not murder) and some are accepted moral standards (You shall not tell lies; you shall not be jealous of what others have got; you shall not commit adultery; honour your father and your mother) and we can see the reason and sense of them. The others we, as a society, have considered outdated and have ignored them. (You shall have no other gods before me; you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God; and finally, remember the sabbath and keep it special (holy)) We have discovered to our cost, that ignoring the commandments that don’t suit us doesn’t increase our happiness or our well-being. On the contrary, the country is exhausted from not having a day set apart from every other day, our spirits are numbed by the clamour of ‘other gods’ in the form of material possession and the desire for new experiences and stimuli; and the ready use of ‘God’, ‘Christ’ and ‘Jesus Christ’ as slang expressions has meant that our Christian faith has been de-valued by a society that thought it could do better than honour God.
The radio presenter was right – we can’t turn back the clock, but we could re-value the commandments that God gave us thousands of years ago. It has taken us a few decades, but we are now realising their worth and what it is costing us to ignore them.
Some preachers have thundered warnings from the pulpit of a vengeful God who is full of anger when his Commandments are ignored. This ignores the God spoken of in the first letter of John: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4.16)
It is because God so loves us that he bothered to give us the Commandments – and to repeat them when Moses broke the stones on which they were first written! (Exodus 34.1)
Such love.
August 2008
Just a few hours after we got home frrom our holiday in Scotland we looked out of the kitchen window to see a solitary cygnet looking bewildered and lost. After some enquiries we learnt that the parents nested on a lake two fields away, that the father had drowned his cygnets last year and was trying to do the same this year. The mother had taken her brood of five to our neighbouring farm and left them. Our neighbour didn’t know what to do so she tried returning them to the lake and the mother swam across calling to her cygnets. They all climbed on her back and she swam off. Two days later, when we rang about the one we had found, we were told the swans had left the lake. It seems the mother had managed to save just one of her cygnets and had brought it to us to look after. There was no way in which the cygnet could have got to us on her own. She is now very large and we have named her Lizzie and we have found that swans are far more intelligent than ducks! We hope to release her when she is fully fledged and independent.
I am reminded of Moses’ mother who, fearing for the life of her son, left him to be found by someone who could look after him. (Exodus 1.8 - 2.10)
It was quite the opposite with Jesus. In heaven he was safe and honoured and he came to earth to expose himself to all the dangers and temptations that we are exposed to.
It is wonderful to know that a mother swan, desperate to save her remaining cygnet, should trust humans to such a degree. It is even more wonderful to know that Jesus should leave his home and entrust himself to us in an equally vulnerable and defenceless form. His reason was that he was desperate to save us. Fully aware in adulthood of all that he must suffer to achieve all that he had wanted when in power, he lived as we live and allowed himself to be captured, to suffer a mock trial and to be executed in a barbaric way.
We cannot begin to understand how a wild swan could decide that unknown humans might be trusted to rear her baby. Neither can we begin to understand how much it cost Jesus to entrust himself to us knowing that we would betray him. It is true that he died once on the cross over 2000 years ago, but it is also true that he dies over and over again when we abuse and neglect one another. I am reminded again of lines from Studdert Kennedy’s poem which I have quoted from before: ‘Still Jesus cried, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
Dear Friends,
When Jesus had supper with his disciples on the night before he was crucified, he made it absolutely memorable for them and for us. It was a time of intimate fellowship and, because of the trust that had developed between them, they believed (though didn’t understand) the things he said. (Luke 22. 7-20)
Some days later, when he met two of his followers on the road to Emmaus and was invited to have a meal with them, he made it so very special when he broke the bread and they recognised him as their risen Lord. (Luke 24. 13-35)
The originators of the Alpha course began each evening with a meal and discovered again what a valuable part eating together played in building fellowship. Now, in our turn, we have discovered the same - that the most significant part of our course has been the fellowship that has developed between the participants during the meal. This, together with the shared humour of the dvd talks, has made the last 7 Tuesdays a very enjoyable time.
On the longest day (which was cold and wet!) we went to Rowlstone for our Day away. Once again there was a strong sense of fellowship and shared experience and, after dvd’s about the figure, work and presence of the Holy Spirit we had an short service of Holy Communion.
I had heard very negative comments about Alpha before we started, but now I am extremely positive about it. The quality of the dvd’s is excellent, being easily understood, humerous and profound. They are a wonderful opportunity to learn about or be reminded of the many intriguing aspects of the Christian faith. The shared laughter makes the information given so accessible.
Jesus set us the example and we are happy to learn from him. He told us to break bread together and to remember him when we do. We do just that at our Alpha meetings and our lives have been enriched as a result. We shall be starting another Alpha Course in September so look out for details on posters and in this magazine.
Tens of thousands of people have enjoyed Alpha and the friendships that have begun and endured during the course. If you would like to know more about it, give me a ring or send and e-mail.
With love,
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
The Christian faith is not simply about believing or not, it is about a relationship with God through Jesus. God wants a relationship with us which is one of the reasons that Jesus came to earth. He said, “If you know me you will know my Father also.” (John 14. 7-9) The following is from chapter 17 of John’s Gospel. These are the words Jesus prayed just before his arrest, trial and crucifixion. Try reading them and putting your name where there are dots and using the appropriate personal pronoun. It becomes a powerful reminder of how important each one of us is to God.
Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
I have revealed you to … whom you gave me out of the world. He/she was yours; you gave him/her to me and he/she has obeyed your word.
Now he/she knows that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave him/her the words you gave me and he/she accepted them. He/she knew with certainty that I came from you, and he/she believed that you sent me.
I pray for … I am not praying for the world, but for … whom you have given me, for he/she is yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through him/her.
I will remain in the world no longer, but he/she is still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect him/her by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that he/she may be one as we are one.
While I was with him/her, I protected him/her and kept him/her safe by that name you gave me. I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that he/she may have the full measure of my joy within him/her.
I have given him/her your word and the world has hated him/her, for he/she is not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take him/her out of the world but that you protect him/her from the evil one. He/she is not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Sanctify … by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent … into the world. For him/her I sanctify myself, that he/she too may be truly sanctified.
My prayer is not for him/her alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through this/her message, that all may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May he/she also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I in … and you in me. May he/she be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved him/her even as you have loved me.
Father, I want … to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and … knows that you have sent me. I have made you known to him/her, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in him/her and that I myself may be in him/her.”
Such love -
Letters' Archive
July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
“When I came to you I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”
So said St. Paul in his first letter to the people of Corinth (1 Corinthians 2. 1-5)
I came to these parishes in much the same way, though without St. Paul’s impact!
St. Paul goes on to speak of God’s wisdom and, in doing so, reveals the gifts he had in speaking of the one subject that was always in his heart and his mind – the message of Christ crucified. It is the only message worth preaching and no matter how poorly we do so, if we resolve to know nothing else, God’s Spirit will remedy some of our deficiencies for ‘…no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.’ (verse 11)
Now it is time for me to retire from these parishes and that is the hardest decision I have had to make. I was made so welcome when I came and was given such trust for the new ways and changes that I proposed that I knew, from the very first, that I was doubly blessed. For in addition, this is a most beautiful area in which to work, and travelling around the parishes has been a source of pure delight as each turn revealed a different aspect of the mountains, hills and fields. There are no words to portray the privilege of priesthood. It isn’t an easy calling, but nothing in this world of any worth is without challenge and pain. It is the nature of love, and the priesthood is a call by God to love his people in a particular way. We all fall short of his call but, ‘the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.’ (1 Corinthians 1.25)
St. Paul develops his theme and repeats his belief that God’s Holy Spirit supplies our wants when we acknowledge our need. This is a faith that we can all cling to, particularly in times of uncertainty.
Before he left his disciples and ascended to God, Jesus said he would be with us for ever. (Matthew 28. 20) and it was his death, resurrection and ascension that made this possible. The love which Jesus had for his people then, he has for us now. It is his great love that moves him to work, sometimes through us, to bring all people to God. (John 10. 14-16) We are all potential workers in this for we are all ‘a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ (1 Peter 2.9)
It is a great and awesome privilege to preach of this love (or attempt to!). I have come to my decision with a heavy heart, but it must be so. However, I shall never forget the contentment and fulfilment of this time with you and will always thank God for his part in bringing me here. My last service as parish priest will be on 28th September in St. Peter’s Church at 10.0am. I know the uncertainty that will follow, but I would appeal to you, pray for these parishes and for the future and remember that, whatever befalls, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’. You can continue to move things forward so that the people of the Wye Valley Group of Churches become an example of what is possible when we take up Jesus’ invitation, ‘I will do anything you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.’ (John 14.14)
With love
Letters' Archive
July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
We have found a fieldfare which is unable to fly. Soon he will have a bigger ‘house’ as he is obviously going to be with us for some time. A comment was made recently that he won’t want to leave as he is now unthreatened by predators, he doesn’t have to search for food and he is protected from extremes of weather. He has all he needs. It was said in jest because, of course, what he doesn’t have is freedom
Yesterday we celebrated Easter and reflected that, as all four Gospel writers were at pains to tell us, this new life for all his disciples began at the start of a new day.
How many people today would like to be given a new life with the new day. Our children are still being treated as disposable commodities and now the proposed Embryology Bill will further reduce the status of the child and the family. Our freedoms are being continually eroded with dna records kept, even of the innocent, and surveillance cameras to rival the most powerful dictatorship. There are calls for extended powers of arrest and longer periods for detention before arrest. All these things are done in the name of protection. Protection from some of the most cruel diseases and protection from callous attacks.
These are tempting baits, but, as with our little fieldfare, it is a less than full life. This life is about considered risk and enterprise. Without being reckless, we cannot (or should not try) to prevent our children from falling as they learn to walk; and that philosophy pervades all life.
If we add to this the predicted period of financial hardship brought down upon the majority by the excessive greed and dubious practice of a minority we are not surprised that everywhere people fear to begin the new day, burdened even as they wake, by care and anxiety.
Those first disciples were also burdened with care and anxiety – they were far from home, unemployed and penniless and now, leaderless. They were marked by the authorities as troublemakers and their lives were at risk so they were in hiding. Yet, despite all this, their hearts were light and they were happy. This was entirely due to the belief that Jesus was risen and would now be with them always and in a new and more powerful way.
Flippy, the fieldfare, is powerless to affect his happiness, but we can ask ourselves the question that Alpha poses, ‘Is there more to life than this?’ Christians believe that there is a happiness and peace to be found which transcends our situation, whatever it is.
Letters' Archive
July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
At a recent Informal Service in Clyro we used a hymn which was popular in schools and family services a few years ago, but which I haven’t heard for some time. Some of the lines keep coming back to me and are very relevant this month. The first verse wonderfully reflects the movement of spring with its mix of bitter winds and dark, bare soil, and the profound pleasure and delight of discovering more spring flowers and bulbs that have sprung up almost overnight.
Earth so dark and so cold,
what great secrets you hold;
The promise of spring,
the wonder you bring,
the beauty of nature unfolds.
The following verses are especially relevant this year with the earliest Easter in over 100 years. We barely cleared Epiphany when we were in Lent and the verses move from Jesus’ birth to his death and resurrection. The chorus is a reminder, after each verse, of the mysterious power that we celebrate at the greatest festival of the Christian year.
From the darkness came light,
from the blackest of nights;
Wait for the morning,
the sunlight,
the dawning:
from the darkness came light.
We are told that as Jesus was dying on the cross, darkness covered the land (Luke 23.44) and that night was surely the blackest and bleakest that his disciples had ever experienced.
But at dawn on that first Easter morning (Luke 24.1), as the darkness gave way to light, the full glory of Jesus was revealed. The deep sorrow of his disciples was transformed into wonder and great joy.
Will you join us this month as we remember in readings and in song, that powerful account of the world’s most significant event? Will you join those who make a determined effort to set aside the mundane pressures and commitments of each week and gather to celebrate the miracle of life? This miracle is repeated for us each spring when the cold, dark earth blossoms and warms as the light strengthens and increases. It is repeated in our homes and our churches each Easter as the dark cross and darker tomb are transformed into symbols of love and life.
It is a wonderful experience to share and one not to be missed. Please join us.
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
A cabinet minister met his local vicar who asked him to take up the cause of an elderly gentlemen who was in his constituency. ‘Oh!’ said the minister, ‘I am far too busy now with whole departments, to get involved with the problems of individuals.’
‘You must be busy,’ observed his vicar, ‘even God hasn’t got to that stage yet.’
Sadly, that story can be turned around and is still significant. There is a great reluctance to become burdened with the responsibility of being part of a ‘department’. We have seen from the pages of this magazine how often the appeal has gone out for help with the Beavers and Cubs. Churches, too, are in urgent need of more people to support their activities.
Jesus said, ‘My house will be a house of prayer!’ (Luke 19.46) The rest of his sentence related to the particular situation he found in the temple, but the beginning of his sentence is for all churches. We cannot underestimate the power of prayer. Our parish churches have been kept for us because of the regular meeting for prayer of past congregations – and congregations are individuals who are willing to be part of a ‘department’. God is concerned with the needs of every single one of his people. He is also concerned with the needs of his ‘departments’ which is why Jesus said those words in the temple.
In our Group we have been very aware of the painful events in the Parish of Llowes concerning its parish church of St. Meilig. It was with great pleasure that we celebrated Harvest in the newly opened and thoroughly cleaned and polished church. What was significant was the number of people who committed themselves to ensuring that St. Meilig’s remains a ‘house of prayer’. They began to realise that a building that is used only for baptisms, weddings and funerals and the occasional concert, is not a parish church and at the service in January twelve people from that parish of 60 or 80 families (a high percentage which far exceeds the national average) were prepared to make a commitment, as people had before them, to meet as a congregation, to pray and celebrate together.
I hope you will forgive me for using my letter this month to make an appeal. In St. Peter’s, in St. Michael’s and in All Saints’ there is a great desire to be more effective in the community, but we don’t have enough people. So this appeal is that everyone who reads my letter might ask themselves if they can do something for their parish church. The priority is to ensure that it remains a house of prayer because from that strong position, its members can be a caring and significant part of the wider community. I know the pressures of our present age and that we all have to make priorities. I am asking that supporting your parish church with your time and presence becomes, if possible, a higher priority. We have different types of services to meet most needs and we have the capability to be even more diverse if the need is there.
Without your help, our other three parish churches could face, in the near future, the same painful decisions that confronted the people of Llowes.
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
I asked myself this morning in the time before I got up, “Do I really love you, God? Can I love you? Can I truly have a relationship with you?”
Just now I thought again of my question. God is beyond all knowledge and yet I know I love him and that I am loved by him. But what words can I use to speak what is in my heart? How can I pin down on paper, the truth that I sense in my very being, but know that I am inadequate to express?
I remembered this piece which Dad discovered and finds both moving and perplexing.
"Effie, do you love God?" Her surprise seemed to him more at the thing he had asked than at its amazing unexpectedness and amazing irrelevancy. "Why, of course I do, Mr. Sabre. "Why do you?" She was utterly at a loss. "Well, of course I do." He said rather sharply: "Yes, but why? Have you ever asked yourself why? Respecting, fearing, trusting, that's understandable. But love, love; you know what love is, don't you? What has love got to do with God?” She said in simple wonderment, as one asked what had the sun to do with light or whether water was wet: "Why, God is love." He stared at her.
(From: ‘If Winter Comes’ by A S M Hutchinson)
It is moving because we are made to love and be loved, and perplexing because this is
the great difficulty – how to speak of what we know, when that knowledge is inexpressible? I have to recognise again the neatness of St. Anselm’s observation on this problem; ‘I do not seek to understand that I might believe, but believe that I might understand.’
After the experience that brought me to faith I thought it was simply a matter of believing or not believing so when my vicar spoke of a relationship with God, I had no idea what he meant – how could anyone have a relationship with God????
That is the problem: adulthood and increased knowledge condition us to expect that we have to resolve the difficulty and the ‘how’ defeats us. Perhaps that is why Jesus said, ‘…anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ (Mark 10.15) Children expect to ask for help. Jesus promised that if we asked God to come into our lives he would not refuse. (Luke 11.9)
St. Anselm goes on: ‘For this I know to be true, that unless I first believe, I shall not understand.’ A new year is as good a time as any for asking, ‘Do I love God?’ What is certain is that God loves us.
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
The church’s year begins with Advent which usually starts on the first Sunday of December. I have always enjoyed the atmosphere of Christmas with its air of momentous expectation and the sense of profound mystery. This pleasure in Christmas began in childhood when I knew the expectation and mystery, which started early in December, would all be revealed in the course of Christmas Day. It became dulled in adulthood until our own children were born, when I was able to experience the mystery and expectation again through them. When, in my thirties, I came to faith and better understood the great implication of Christmas, I found that those senses returned, but with increased power to move me beyond words.
Advent is the season when we prepare for this momentous event in the Christian faith. Birth is usually prepared for and so it is for Christians, but the preparation is on two levels; practical and spiritual. It makes no difference that this birth is prepared for every year – just as no birth is the same, so no Christmas is the same when we recognise God’s involvement in the event.
Advent (or the beginning of December before I had any faith) always seemed a more fitting time to consider what was to come than the beginning of January! Perhaps it is a natural outcome of anticipation and particularly when we are anticipating a birth. Many of us, as parents, will have indulged in considering the months that lie ahead and made resolutions for those months.
In our parishes, as we prepare to celebrate again this very special birth, we have planned more activities than ever to express the relevance and importance to us of Christ’s birth and the delight we share as we prepare for it. We have carols, music, poems, plays and readings all intended to extend the delight of this time. We would like everyone in these parishes to share this time with us and all are very warmly welcomed.
Along with the delight, though, we can use the time before and over Christmas, to ponder on its significance (if any) in our daily lives. There is always something new and fresh despite the familiarity of the story, if we are willing to hear what God is saying through each new Advent for, as St. Peter quoted at the first Pentecost, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2. 17) What could be more enthralling?
With love,
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
One November morning everything was a uniform, misty, murky grey. All colour seemed to have been leeched away by the damply draping gloom. I had been praying and I opened my eyes to this colourless landscape and was immediately struck by a most unlikely source of colour and beauty. A clump of stinging nettles had turned brown as they began the die-back which would result in a new surge of growth next spring. The remarkable thing was that this usually ugly sight was utterly transformed as it seemed to be gathering all the poor light that there was, into itself, into a golden gleam. I looked for the ray of sun that I felt sure must have sneaked through the murk to touch this clump of nettles, but there was none. It was so striking because of the contrast with the encircling greyness which had left this brown clump to glow with an unlooked for glory. I have never forgotten that little incident, such was its impact.
We tend to think of ‘glory’ in terms of those occasional spectacular sunrises or sunsets, or the colours of flowers in full summer bloom. Seldom does November give rise to much in the way of glory, but such incidents remind us that beauty may be found in unexpected places.
November begins with occasions for remembering those who have died and that, in itself, gives a more sombre feel to the month. On Friday 2nd, we have the opportunity to remember those in our parishes who have died in recent years, and maybe to light a candle, as we celebrate all that they gave in their time with us. (If you would like someone remembered by name, please give me the details as soon as possible.) Remembrance Sunday falls on 11th this year and we shall gather in All Saints’ Church to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. Bereavement can make the ensuing days seem as colourless as that murky November morning, but even in the midst of loss, the beauty of peace may suddenly surprise us.
Every Sunday we remember Jesus’ death and all that followed. Already we are planning our Christmas events. Both the birth and death of Jesus were occasions of unexpected glory. We sing of the glory of the Lord shining upon the humble shepherds one very special night. Even in the mucky manger, that miracle of new life was a unique glory. In his death, the glory of God’s power caused Christ’s followers to name that day Good Friday.
God’s glory is as unlooked for and unexpected as that November clump of nettles!
Letters' Archive
July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
Dear Friends,
Throughout the summer, as I walk the lanes in the early morning, there comes, in very brief snatches, the sweet, unrivalled scent of wild honeysuckle. Often it is so well hidden in the rest of the greenery that it takes a while to find. This is made doubly difficult by the fact that the scent is carried in the air away from its source, so I can’t assume that I am standing near the honeysuckle when its scent reaches me. This is a wonderful bonus to my early-morning walks. ‘A bonus’ because I forget about it until I scent it, so never think to go looking for it.
Increasingly, this year, I have thought how like God’s presence that scent is. For a start is its unrivalled sweetness – not overpowering, not sickly sweet; it is subtle and can easily be missed. It is hidden amidst the varied tangle of our hedgerows, just as God’s presence is concealed amidst the daily turmoil of our lives.
The scent is sometimes not noticed until after I have travelled past the honeysuckle blooms, just as, like Jacob, we sometimes realise God has been with us but we ‘knew it not’ at the time (Genesis 28.10-16)
It is sometimes difficult, during the atheists’ attack on the reality of God, to remember that he is a living God. We do not place our trust in an image, real or abstract. We love a living God, not an effigy or icon. We have a relationship with our living God – and it is not possible to have a relationship with an idea, theory or statue. When we speak of experiences of God’s presence, they are not figments of a fevered imagination, but a closer encounter with our living God. It is because he is a living God that he can be hurt by our actions and words and because he is a living God that he can be active in turning the things we get wrong into something better than it would otherwise be.
As a living God, he makes the decision not to intervene, but to allow us to make mistakes and even to do evil things. His alternative would be to manipulate our every action because, once started, where would he be able to end? We have to work through that fact, playing out scenarios, rather than simply accuse him of inaction.
It is only because he is a living God that he can, and does, love his people. And his love knows no bounds because his is a pure love, not limited or distorted by self interest.
It is because he is a living God that he can be, and is, loved.
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
Dear Friends,
At Clyro’s Fun Day there was a ‘Reflections’ stall which, among its attractions, displayed a box with this invitation:
"Do you want to see something amazing?
Inside this box is the most wonderful, precious treasure that has ever been made.
Lift the lid carefully and take a peep inside."
The bottom of the box was covered by a mirror so when anyone looked inside they saw themselves. A child looked in the box to see this most wonderful, precious treasure ever made, and saw his own reflection. With great surprise he said, “It’s me!”
His friend thought a moment and then said, “That means it’s everyone!”
He was told that he was quiet right. It is a lovely way of illustrating how very precious we are to God – every one of us is a treasure to God and, in the words of the Psalmist, we are wonderfully made. (Psalm 139) Sometimes we spoil the treasure – dull its glow, but still God values us. It is good to remember what St. Augustine said, that God loves every one of us as if there was only one of us to love.
Isn’t it wonderful to be so precious to one with such power and authority and so much to care for and about? Isn’t it sad that there are so many people who feel anything but precious? So many things conspire to condition children in the belief that they are of little value and therefore not worthy of respect. In response, they show no respect. In adulthood they struggle with the burden this imposes on them. Those who, in adulthood, have discovered the love of God can testify to the difference it makes in their lives and in their relationships.
In Isaiah we find the image of the Shepherd God who is tender and caring of his people: ‘He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.’ (Isaiah 40.11)
Why is there a reluctance to believe how precious we are to God, how desperately he longs to tend us, gather us and, when necessary, carry us?
The Healing and Reconciliation Services which we now hold are an opportunity to experience the wonder of being so loved and valued; to reflect on this great love if we already know it; and to bring in our hearts to God, those whom we love, in the knowledge that he will gather and tend them.
With love,
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
Dear Friends,
Some years ago I had a series of dreams which were remarkable in that they spanned precisely one year and although I don’t usually remember dreaming at all, I was able to recall each one of these very clearly. There were a number of them, but the first was about the right valuing of things. They each had a personal significance, but some were capable of a wider application. This first was just such a one. I have been thinking of it recently with all the news which is published and broadcast. It all seems to have one theme - the loss of the right values in government, in industry, in public life and in the media.
A particular concern of mine has been the way family life has been so undermined. An interim report from The Children’s Society has repeated what has been said time and again, that ‘childhoods are being damaged by parental break-ups and growing pressure on mothers to return to work’. Some mothers told the charity that they felt pressured to go back to work by government policies designed to push more pre-schoolers into childcare. They also felt forced to return because of ‘attitudes in society that value achievement in the workplace’. Implicit in this is the lack of any value placed on the bringing up of children by their parents or another trusted figure. If we were to treat puppies the way we treat our children there would be an outcry.
Most of us know of Jesus’ attitude to children. He saw them as individuals with something to teach us when it came to our relationship with God and he was fierce with his disciples who tried to shoo the children away for fear of ‘bothering’ him. (Mark 10. 13-16, Luke 10.21) St. Paul, searching for an analogy to express his attitude to the Thessalonians said, ‘...we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children’. (Thess. 2.1-7)
Unless we make a radical re-assessment of the things we value, we risk sliding into a hell of our own making. St. Paul, writing to the Galations (6.7) warned them, ‘As you sow, so shall you reap’, and one of the harvests we are reaping is that far too many of our children are learning, from their parents, that they are not of value.
It isn’t possible for any one person to change such a profound, national misunderstanding of the real values, but it is possible for God to work through individuals to achieve his will. With our prayers we can support any who are moved by God to this work. We may not know for whom we pray, but we can be sure that God will value our prayers and use them in his plans.
With love,
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
It will come as no surprise to many of you, that soon after 21st of this month I will be uncontactable for about 24 hours!!!!!!! (For the unaware, that is the release date of the latest, and possibly last, Harry Potter book.)
From Harry’s first day at Hogwarts’ School, he and ‘Potions’ teacher, Professor Snape, have an intense dislike of each other. Snape is an enigma. Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore trusts Snape. Despite first impressions, it transpires again and again, that Snape has used his skills to protect Harry from the evil Voldemort and his servants. On the other hand, he is deeply prejudiced against Harry and loses no opportunity to humiliate or punish him. He shows himself to be vindictive and sly. His appearance is against him too, with his hooked nose and black, greasy hair. All through the six books, Professor Snape is easy to dislike and despise. The wonder is that wise, old Professor Dumbledore has absolute faith in his potions teacher, and sometimes gets cross with Harry for his persistent denouncing of Snape.
In Book Six, Snape kills Professor Dumbledore and all the people who loved Dumbledore in the story and, I suspect, many of J K Rowling’s readers, feel vindicated in their hatred of this man. I may be wrong – we should find out after 21st of this month – but I think that only Snape had the courage to do the one thing that no-one else would do - kill this much loved man so that others might be saved.
Jesus told his listeners, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy’. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Luke 6.27-28) We have discovered that Dumbledore believed Snape, despite Snape’s having been a follower of Voldemort, when he declared his allegiance to him and his rejection of all that Voldemort stood for. Many considered Dumbledore foolish, but, I think, Snape will prove, in the end, that his loyalty and commitment to Dumbledore was beyond anyone else’s.
On the Cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” It is true that they didn’t understand they were crucifying two thieves and the Son of God, but the fact that they were crucifying anyone was an act against God. For this they needed forgiveness. They crucified Jesus without understanding that it was with Jesus’ consent, but this meant that they didn’t need forgiveness for that. Jesus had said that as Moses had lifted up the snake in the desert, so he had to be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life. (John 3.14-15)
There is food for thought in all the Harry Potter books. There is even more in the Gospels! Perhaps you could try reading one of them (Mark is the shortest) looking for the subtlety in both cases. There is more to each than meets the eye.
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
A few months ago, walking along a field hedge line, a rabbit ran out of the hedge, saw my dog, Darcy, and instead of retreating back into the hedge, made a challenging dash across the big field to a distant bank. Darcy loves to run and this rabbit’s challenge was joyfully accepted. The rabbit had a 50 yard start and Darcy, speeding after it and seeing it gaining on him, laid back his ears and seemed to move up another gear. It was wonderful to see his speed and movement. As the rabbit reached the bank Darcy could have taken it, but he had wanted only the chase. I have never seen a dog of mine move so fast, it was beyond description, as I found when I tried to tell Richard about it. It was the fact that he seemed to be going flat out when he moved up that gear. There was such a thrill just in watching him.
A couple of days ago Richard did see it, again when Darcy was after another rabbit. He tried to describe it to me as I had my back turned and missed it. It was only after he had seen it for himself that he knew both the wonder of it and the impossibility of describing that wonder.
The group which meets for Bible Study and Prayer has been looking at the letter to the Philippians. The opening verses were about ‘joy’ and we reflected on the nature of this elusive emotion. It is a word which has fallen from current usage which is a shame as it has its own shades of expression different from ‘happiness’ and from ‘contentment’. Joy was also one of the emotions expressed in the reading for our recent Ascension Day service. The joy that the disciples experienced was a result of their involvement with Jesus, and through him, with God. Joy which comes in this way has a much more profound effect upon us than ordinary joy. I have spoken before of God’s peace meaning far more than our understanding of peace. So it is with joy. There is a Sidney Carter hymn called, ‘The Bell of Creation’, and it always calls to my mind, when we sing it, the deep, reverberating sense of joy, which is God’s joy. It is very much like a bell ringing deep within our soul and does make us feel as if we were a bell, being rung by God.
The trouble is that it is impossible to describe, it has to be experienced. This is true of so many of the experiences of God and is the problem that Christians have when trying to speak of their faith. The facts of belief are dry, the experience of belief is vibrant – but it has to be experienced to be known.
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
DID YOUR LORD REPLY TO YOU?
This was the startling headline on an e-mail I received recently. In fact, it was a mere acknowledgement from the House of Lords in response to a communication Richard had sent to them, but it made me think!!
When we are burdened with troubles and cares and, in our helplessness or frustration, tell God of them, we usually have a clear idea of the solution. When the outcome is not what we wanted, we assume God has not answered our prayer and we feel a sense of frustration, disappointment and, even betrayal.
It is a perplexing frustration which has dogged every generation. We have only to turn to the Psalms to see how frequently God is asked to help. (Psalms 28, 56, 70 and 130) There are far fewer instances which record a response!!! The book of Job is an extended debate on God’s apparent lack of response to personal disasters and its conclusion is both profound and ambiguous.
Being a Christian is not about having access to a god with selective hearing, and praying is not about compiling an acceptable wish list. When Christians gather in church or in each others’ homes we do so as members of a family, of which God is its head. A family member may ask another to help in times of trouble and so we can and do ask God, but we usually turn to him for the things others cannot do. If the thing we don’t want to happen, does happen, we assume ‘Our Lord has NOT replied’, but it is not so. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded with God that the horror that awaited him might be prevented. ( Mark 14. 32-36) If his prayer had been answered it would have been a bad Friday, not a Good one! But Jesus was willing to leave the response to God. (Mark 14. 39-42) He didn’t get an immediate reply, but the outcome was eternal life for Jesus and for us.
Increasingly, we have been conditioned to expect instant responses, even if they are mere acknowledgements. This makes it even harder to accept that God’s reply, which is never a mere acknowledgement, may not be immediate, but Jesus assured us that we would get a response and he urged us to persist in our asking. (Luke 11. 9-10 and 18. 1-8)
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
Dear Friends,
One of the delights of my walks at this time of year are the clumps of primroses that I find in unexpected places. They grow in the most unlikely situations; on the banks of a stream that regularly rises to cover the place where they grow, amidst an ugly tangle of brambles, solitary at the base of a tree and numerous on bare ground. The dark, engrained leaves are arranged in a cupped way that sets off the delicate colour of these humble flowers.
It is because I am not expecting to see them in the places that I do, that they give so much pleasure. The other day I was reflecting on this apparently wanton blooming. I have never seen a bee or any other creature taking sustenance from a primrose and I wondered, what was the purpose of its f lowering, indeed of its very existence – other than to give extreme pleasure to those who ‘stand and stare’?
It occurred to me that this could also be asked of Jesus and the celebration of Easter (and Christmas). Other than being an occasion for a holiday and some self-indulgence, what is the purpose?
A botanist would, I have no doubt, tell me of the creatures that benefit from the primrose and might tell me, with justification, that just because I haven’t seen this benefit, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
This is the truth of Easter (and Christmas!). Men and women who have taken time ‘to stand and stare’ in the presence of God, will, with equal justification, say to a non-believer, just because you haven’t experienced the benefit, doesn’t mean there isn’t one. If I never walk in the fields and woods, I would never experience the delight of finding a primrose. If I never seek to believe, I will never experience the joy of a relationship with God. We have to make it obvious to God that we want to know him. He won’t thrust his presence upon us uninvited. Such is his nature that, for all his power and authority, he is humble and unassuming. Only such a God would choose a painful and shameful death to convince us of his great love for us.
If you have never read the Song of Songs in the Old Testament, why not give a try? It comes about half way through the Old Testament, just before ‘Isaiah’ and is one of the biggest surprises in the Bible. It doesn’t mention God, but it gives us a taste of the pleasure to be found in his presence. If you would like to know more I would love to talk to you.
With love
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July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008, March 2009, February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007
Dear Friends,
We are in the season of Lent and even today, people still think of giving up something. The strangest ‘sacrifice’ I have heard this year is a lady who is ‘giving up supermarkets’ for Lent! Every year I have suggested that we don’t give something up for its own sake, but that we use this time to achieve something more lasting.
It is a highly significant time in the Christian calendar because it marks Jesus’ time in the desert. He had just been baptised and had experienced the intimate presence of God – so powerful was that presence that many people around became aware of God’s power and commented on it. (Matthew 3.13) It moved Jesus to go into the desert to reflect on what that powerful experience meant for him. He wasn’t in the desert, hungry and thirsty, to indulge in a religious fervour of self-denial. The experience of God that so infused him needed time and solitude to be understood.
Time is something we all have – and it may be used recklessly, grudgingly or thoughtfully. St. Benedict was wise when, in making his ‘little rule’, he divided the day into periods for work, study and relaxation. These periods were punctuated by time with God, in joint prayer and praise and in solitary contemplation. This made up a day which was balanced and provided for the essential needs of his monks and nuns.
We can structure our lives along similar lines. We cannot be as regular as St. Benedict planned, and neither were Jesus’ days so ordered and predictable. Nevertheless, he ensured that he always had time to spend with God – even if it meant getting up before the others (Mark 1.35). He also set aside time to go to the synagogue to join with fellow believers – a basic human desire to unite to worship a star of opera, pop or film or, in this case, God.
This Lent, whatever else you are doing or not doing, would you consider ‘giving up’ some of your time to achieve something more lasting? Recent reports have indicated that many in this country are ‘time impoverished’. Many children long for more of their parents’ time. Thousands of people desperately need time just for themselves and we all need time for God. What is certain is that God has set aside time for each one of us. He builds into his life, time for every man, woman and child on earth. Just because we can’t manage that doesn’t mean that he can’t. After all, we all have strengths and weaknesses. God’s ‘weakness’ is his profound love for his people. It led to his death on the cross.
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