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What a joy it was to welcome the Year 6 leavers from Sharow Primary School and Nursery on 15th July. Bells were rung, poems written, quiz questions answered and chocolate eaten! This will definitely become an annual evert. I must thank everyone involved who helped with the activities and for members of Wonderful Wednesday, with whom we shared the church. We also had the Old Duffers visiting on 28th July. They told stories of times gone by and successfully rang a Quarter Peal on the simulator. 45 minutes of continuous ringing. What a great idea it was to ensure all 8 bells could be rung by visitors and for our Wednesday morning practices. On 15th August we have the Ladies Guild of Change Ringers visiting, again using the simulator. I asked Dawn, the organizer, to let me know about the Ladies Guild.
The Ladies Guild of Change Ringers exists to encourage women ringers to achieve their full potential in a friendly, supportive and developmental environment. We are a national organisation with members across the country, from Hampshire to Lancashire, and many places in between. But not yet Yorkshire!! We have therefore organised a ringing day for women ringers and are delighted to be ringing at Sharow on the afternoon of 15th August. The main purpose of the day is to get women ringers together to learn about the Guild and ring in a supportive and developmental environment. The ringers at Sharow tower are always highly supportive and welcoming and this make such a big difference. We are ringing at Kirtlington in the morning and are grateful to both towers for hosting us. On Friday 28th August from 11.00am till 12.30pm, Cambridge University Guild will be ringing a Quarter Peal, so expect to hear some very good ringing. John who is organising the visit wrote: The Cambridge University Guild was established in 1879, and rings regularly around the towers in Cambridge, as well as having an annual summer tour, which this year is coming to North Yorkshire. We were delighted to ring for the wedding on 18thAugust and pleased to be able to toll the bell for a funeral on 24th. I was asked recently how much we have raised for Sharow Bells Restoration and how much the project will cost. 5 of the bells are being sponsored by individuals or groups and we have money in the bank ring fenced in a restricted Sharow PCC fund. This totals about £60,000. The total cost of the project is about £260,000. As we are still awaiting the report from the Civil Engineers, final drawings and cost from the Architect and Taylor’s the bell specialists, we don’t have a total figure. Unfortunately, our application to Historic England was not successful. On 21st July, we had a meeting with Nicola Bell, no relation to David, who will help us evaluate the project as part of National Heritage Lottery Funding. She advised that we apply for and gain the Diocese Full Faculty approval before applying for NHLF, so that is now our priority. In the meantime, Sharow Ringers continue to ring for Sunday Service, and practice on a Monday evening and Wednesday morning. We welcome ringers old and new to improve their ringing and join us in the joy of ringing the bells. Special mention this month must go to Greg, who has rung rounds and call changes on 6 bells for the first time. On Saturday 12th September 10am till 2pm, as part of National Heritage Open Days, there’s an ideal opportunity to take part in bellringing activities, with visits up the tower from 10am till 1pm, bell related activities and refreshments in church till 2pm. Of course, cake will be eaten! I’m very excited that I’ll be attempting my fist Quarter Peal from 1pm to 2pm. The tower will be closed during that time, but the activities in church will still be happening. For more information, please contact Bridget Taylor-Connor 07752981346 [email protected] https://justgiving.com/campaign/appealforapeal
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A Sermon from Reverend David
"Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens ... take my yoke upon you." I could have done with a yoke when I had a Sabbatical 20 years ago and spent a week drystone-walling. On the first morning I had to carry bucket loads of pebbles to fill between the two outer walls. It was raining, there were clouds of midges and within minutes my hands and arms were aching. How was I going to survive a week of this?! Actually I had a great week but for that first chore a yoke would certainly have helped. With one I could have carried those buckets much further or for much longer - taking the weight on my shoulders rather than through my hands and arms. The Hebrew prophets knew all about yokes. And they used the image in four ways.Picturing four different sorts of loads in their buckets. 1. They used it as an image of enslavement - either of domination by a foreign power or of exile. Just as the oxen were yoked to the plough and under the control of the farmer, so their nation was often oppressed, under the yoke, of a foreign empire. 2. Sometimes the image is used for how the rich and powerful within Israel laid the burden of injustice on the shoulders of the poor and vulnerable. As Isaiah puts it: "Is not this the fast that I choose, to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke." 3. The third way the yoke is used is to illustrate the burden of a person or nation's sin, "weighing on the neck and sapping the strength" as it says in Lamentations. 4. And finally, the yoke is linked to the idea of serving God, or refusing to do so. As Jeremiah puts it: "you broke our yoke, you burst your bonds, you said "I will not serve". But that yoke could also be embraced gladly as a healthy, life-giving discipline. So when Jesus talks about yokes, his hearers might have had those different meanings in mind. Some of them would have thought of the yoke of Rome's imperial rule weighing heavily upon them. Some of them would have thought of the injustice that was rife in their society - such as the division between the uber-rich landowners and the struggling peasants. Burdens that were added to by the Pharisees' countless religious regulations - laws that often shut out ordinary working people. And doubtless Jesus' hearers would have thought of their own sins - "weighing on the neck and sapping the strength", their burden of guilt or shame or regret. Jumping forward to St Paul, writing to the Christians in Rome, in a passage of striking honesty, we see that his burden, the yoke he was labouring under was his own self; wrestling with the contradictions and conflicts of his own personality. Of course, he doesn't have the benefit of modern psychology and so we may find some of the ways he puts things unhelpful. So we probably wouldn't want to say "it is not me that does all the bad stuff but sin within me", nor would we want to put it in terms a clash between the will and the flesh. But having said that, like Paul, we are aware of the struggle we face trying to do what our best selves want to do. We are sometimes ruled by deeper energies that overpower our good intentions. Sometimes we wish we could be free of those things But our passions are part of our good, God-given nature. It is just that they have become misdirected and corrupted by our egos. The poet and artist William Blake recognised this but said the answer was not to reject those passions. Instead he said that we needed to: "Seek the form of heaven with the energies of hell". In other words, we need our deep, sometimes unruly energies, but we need to harness and direct them properly - to yoke them so to speak - because that's where we'll find the drive to work for God's kingdom. Paul recognises this inner struggle and feels it deeply. It is his great burden: that something in him gets in the way of his desire to be faithful to God. "O wretched man that I am" he says. Perhaps Jesus' hearers wouldn't have put it so strongly but I guess their sins "weighed on the neck and sapped their strength." Jesus looks at them and knows all this, and issues one of the great invitations in the Bible: "Come to me." ONe that is at the heart of the gospel. Whether you struggle under the burdens that the system or the powerful in society - lay on you. Or whether your burden is more inward and personal - the worries, the depression, the fears, the regrets you find it hard to face or live with. Or perhaps it's the burden of family or work, or illness or age Whatever your burden, whatever is in your bucket - come to me, says Jesus. I may not always take away your problems. But I invite you to accept my yoke - the yoke of obedience - and let me guide and direct your life. But I won't impose the yoke - I invite you to take it, to choose it freely for yourself. Because it still has a weight - it isn't always easy - at times it may even mean carrying a cross. But somewhere inside you, God willing, you will recognise that it fits; that for all the cost of discipleship there is an even greater blessing. And one more thing. I will help you carry it. Because this yoke is not for one ox but a pair - I will share your burdens, walking alongside you every step of the journey. For my way is about sharing the burdens of others. And a burden shared, as they say... Yes, there will be a lot of things to learn along the way, lots of ups and downs, but it starts with a simple invitation: Come to me, know yourself loved, and take my yoke upon you. A sermon from Reverend David
When did you last welcome God into your home? The story of Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre has inspired great works of art. Jenny and Isaw one by Chagal while we were on holiday in France. Following a long tradition he paints the three visitors as angels. Actually the writer only says they are three men. But there is a mysterious ambiguity because the story also says that this is the appearance of the Lord. And when Abraham first speaks he says "My Lord" but then the reply is: "They said". It isn't surprising that early Christians saw this as hinting at the Trinity - the one God in three persons. But it is also a sign that, in the Bible, God often comes to people through intermediaries - bridging the gap between the infinite, unknowable realm and people's everyday experience. We tend to think of these as angels, although in the bible they are usually just described as "men". So to welcome three visitors, who came to bring a blessing from God, was the same as welcoming God. And the same point is made in the gospel reading. It comes at the end of chapter of instructions to the first disciples as they are sent out into the world to carry out and carry on Jesus' message and work. And Jesus says: those who welcome you welcome me. What he probably meant was that they were his representatives. So that if they were treated with honour and respect, then honour and respect was being shown to the one who sent them. However, after the resurrection, the early Christians believed that Christ was actually present and at work within them by his Spirit. And so Jesus' words took on new meaning. And they recalled him saying "When you fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick and visited those in prison - you did it to me," They realised that his presence wasn't limited to themselves but was there in all those in need who crossed their path or who they went out of their way to help. And, like the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, they remembered stories like Abraham and his visitors and believed that in offering hospitality, they were often "entertaining angels unawares". So when did you last welcome God or Jesus into your home? I believe Jenny and I had the privilege of doing that when we lived in Leeds, where we were fortunate to be part of a network of ordinary people who offered a bed for the night to destitute asylum seekers. In the context of their troubles it seemed precious little - rather like offering a cup of cold water in the burning heat of Palestine. Often it left us feeling inadequate and frustrated that we couldn't do more. Though just occasionally we saw something of the difference it made. I'll never forget one man. When I greeted him at the door with a smile his face was totally blank. He seemed so traumatised that he couldn't even smile back. We showed him to his room and then we ate our meal together. We had been told he had no English, so there wasn't any conversation except that I offered him a banana, saying the word, and he replied with his own word for it. And then he went to bed. That was it. In the morning, as he was about to leave, I was upstairs when I heard him ask Jenny for, "Baba". (Father) I came down to say goodbye and he gave me a hug and then walked up the drive smiling and waving goodbye. It felt like all we had done was offer him the equivalent of a cup of cold water in the midst of his troubles. But we saw the difference it had made to him and that was our reward. If Jesus is right, then we welcome him in all those who enter our homes - be they friends, family or strangers. But of course hospitality isn't just something we practice at home. It's core to our life as a Christian community here. And it is an attitude we can take into all our relationships and experiences. It is about living with less fear of the unknown. And being open to, and welcoming, the presence of God all our experiences and encounters. Another way we can welcome God into our home is through prayer. In Judaism, so much of the faith is lived out not at Synagogue but in the home - the daily rituals and weekly shabbat prayers. And a simple way that Jenny and I have found we can consciously invite God in is by saying grace at the evening meal table. We haven't always done that but over the years we have found it a helpful way to be mindful of God; to give thanks but also to look back over the day, or think of others. I know that might be awkward for some of us if our partners are unsure about faith. But for most of us it can be so simple, even if we have rather got out of the way of it, or only do it when the vicar comes round! But I want to finish back with Abraham and his visitors and a famous religious icon, painted by a Russian man called Andrei Rublev about 600 years ago. And although it shows Abraham's three visitors as angels, for him it was a painting of the Trinity. And you will see that he has removed Abraham and Sarah from the picture. Instead the three figures are sitting around the table and the front is open - as if we are looking in. It is as if the roles have been reversed. Now Abraham and Sarah - or rather ourselves - are no longer the hosts but the guests. Having welcomed the Lord into our lives, we are now invited into the banquet of God's love. Let's just spend a few quiet moments looking at this, remembering that God comes to us in so many ways and let's be open to whatever he may wish to say to us today. The origins of the tradition of a bride carrying flowers at her wedding dates back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. In ancient Greece, brides carried aromatic herbs and flowers to symbolize fidelity, happiness, and fertility, essential elements for a successful marriage. The ancient Romans started to carry and wear floral garlands to their weddings as a symbol of new beginnings. The earliest bridal bouquets of the Middle Ages were made up of pungent herbs and spices; these aromatic bouquets were believed to ward off evil spirits and ensure a prosperous future for the newlyweds. Dill was especially common, as it was not only thought to drive away negative energy, but it was also known as the herb of lust! During the Elizabethan era, small arrangements became a bridal must-have and posies were created to give as favours.Fashionable brides began wearing flowers nestled in their hair.  The bridal bouquet as we know it today made its appearance in Britain in the 19th century, when Queen Victoria held a small posy of flowers at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. This was the time of the "language of flowers', and brides began to choose blooms based on the meanings behind the flowers. Roses which signify love, and peonies representing happiness and ambition became popular. As a result, bouquets became closely associated with sentimental romance. Catherine (the Princess of Wales), when she married Prince William included 'sweet william' flowers in her bouquet as a nod to her groom  The bouquet has become an important part of the modern wedding, albeit more of an accessory. Flowers are more likely to be chosen for their colour, shape and fragrance rather than their meaning. None-the-less, whether the bride realises it or not, they do symbolise the joy and happiness of the day. The very act of holding a bouquet is said to signify the transition into a new chapter of life; and it is thought to act as a focal point enhancing the bride's beauty and radiance as she walks down the aisle.  Some brides keep the tradition of tossing their bouquet away; throwing it over their head for a single female guest to catch, in the hope that it will signify that they will be the next one to get married. This tradition began during the Middle Ages, when it was considered good luck to touch or take parts of the bride's dress. In the 14th century the tradition evolved into tossing the bouquet now seen as a symbol of good luck (and possibly to stop the bride from being interfered with!).  My bouquet, some 56 years later, is all shrivelled-up, crisp and dry in a box in the loft (the drying process intended to keep it looking colourful and intact, unfortunately, didn't work!). Maybe I should have thrown it over my head instead, for someone else to enjoy.  -Denise The ‘Introduction to Theology’ is FOR ANYONE who wants to grow in their journey of Faith in Jesus and for some begin to explore how God might be calling them. "Welcome to 'Introduction to Theology'. Theology is a word that comes from Ancient Greek. It means talking about God, It's as simple as that. You already do theology, even if you don't call it that. For example, when you say, 'God loves you' to someone, you are making a statement about God. You are 'doing theology. This course is for anyone who wants to do theology - to talk and think about God - and to deepen their discipleship. It's also an opportunity to think about how God is forming us right now. All of us are on a journey with God. We are letting God mould us into the person God always meant us to be. We may feel called to a particular ministry. We may just want to know more. Either way,
this course is for you.'  On 17th June, Civil Engineers from Mason Clark Associates, were at church monitoring the “liveliness” of the tower. Eight ringers rang the bells for 30 minutes so measurements could be taken. There were also readings the day before to record the ambient movement of the tower, then after ringing. The resultant report will hopefully show that the tower is not within tolerance levels (and the bells should be moved), but not so bad that we need to stop ringing! The information will form an important part of our Faculty Submission.  In June I’ve applied to Historic England for a grant to cover Urgent Repairs from Priorities 1 and 2 from St John’s current Quinquennial. If successful, this will cover repair, replacement and painting of rainwater goods; stone work; recasting and replacing the bells lower in the tower and painting the new ringing chamber. Unfortunately, St John’s does not fall within Historic England’s Priority 1 geographical area. We’re Priority 3, but you’ve got to be in it to win it! I’m making good progress with the Heritage Lottery Funding Bid. Gathering supporting documentation for community group, including Scouts and Guides. I hope to submit the bid by the end of July. Thanks to David Bell, our Ringing Master and Wood Schofield, our Tower Captain, the quality of our ringing is making great progress. Our Monday evening and Wednesday practices attract ringers from throughout Yorkshire and around the country. There is now a waiting list for learners. Greg and Izzy are making great progress and will hopefully soon be able to ring for Sunday service. We will be ringing for a wedding on 18th July, and on15th July will host a morning of ringing activities for the Year 6 leavers from Sharow Primary School and Nursery. There will also be visiting ringers using the simulator on 28th July.  There will also be visiting ringers using the simulator on 28th July. John who is organising the visit has written this short report: "Is it really 35 years ago? A group of friends loosely connected with Knaresborough meet roughly once a month to ring (or more often fail to ring) a quarter peal (which is a piece of ringing lasting about 40 minutes) and then socialise to celebrate or commiserate their ringing. On July 28th, in the morning, we shall be coming to Sharow. Thinking about this prompted memories from the past. During the early 1980’s ringers from Knaresborough occasionally rang the bells at Sharow. They were, then, a pleasant set of bells, but not then often rung. Our visits led to a desire by several local residents to learn to ring, and during the late 1980’s we gave regular tuition, such that it was possible for the bells to be rung for Sunday Services by a ‘local’ band. Memory fails me, but those we helped included Peter Triffit, Alf and Doreen Wise, Chris Dodds (and later his daughter Katy). There were several more. But life moved on, and the links weakened. Ringers at Knaresborough who were involved then include Derek Hurst, Ros Moss (then Thompson), Andrew and Jane Holland and Christine and John Leech. We were all a lot younger then than now, but most of us are still ringing. The Friday evenings at Sharow were a delight – especially as the ‘learners’ improved and the teaching showed such success. Coming to ring on July 28th will revive many happy memories for me. John Leech" 
A local Churches Conservation Trust ChurchChrist the Consoler is raising money to restore conservation heating and our Grade I listed Thomas C Lewis pipe organ. We have made impressive progress already and we are preparing to submit an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as some other grant providers.
We are conducting a quick Community Survey which helps us gather views and also demonstrate the strength of support for this beautiful place. As we are not an ‘open’ church (we are part of the Churches Conservation Trust) we cannot ask a congregation, but we have the best community all around us! Last year alone we had over 7000 visitors from 6 continents and 19 countries! We would love it if you could help us by completing our short questionnaire. It is a quick turnaround as the deadline is this coming Sunday (28th) so please do not hesitate to click on the link! THIS IS THE LINK: https://www.christtheconsoler.com/survey/ We have two great events coming up. On Friday 24th July at 3pm we welcome the Ryedale Festival with a musical and narrated performance of The Salt Road. Then on Wednesday 5th August at 7pm, we are really excited to welcome the amazing HandleBards who are coming to perform Macbeth. From David Paton WilliamsWhy did people put Jesus to death?
Why did someone whose life was so full of love provoke so much fear and hatred that others wanted him dead? There are various answers to that, such the unique claims he made about who he was and also the threat he posed to the whole temple-based religious system. But from early days in his ministry - as the gospels make clear - one of the biggest threats he posed was simply through his love. We see that in our reading from Matthew. Jesus eats with those who other people snubbed or rejected - tax collectors and sinners; he is touched by and brings healing to a woman with chronic bleeding, and he takes a dead girl by the hand and restores her to life. In each story the people involved discovered the reality and power of God's love for them. What a wonderful thing that must have been! But that love was also about refusing to collude with things in his society that excluded or dehumanised people and added to their pain. And so he also provoked a negative, even hostile, response from the Pharisees. Eating with sinners, touching, or being touched by, an unclean person such as a woman during her period, or a dead body - in each of these, Jesus crossed a line and made himself "unclean" in the eyes of his society; a lawbreaker in the eyes of the Pharisees. We could say that Jesus was comforting the disturbed but disturbing the comfortable. By his active, line-crossing compassion, he was rejecting the whole religious system of keeping apart from sinful or unclean people, of staying safe in a supposedly pure, supposedly moral and godly environment. And that was a direct challenge to people like the Pharisees, what they believed and how they lived - challenging them to go way beyond their own comfort zone. And it would sow the seeds of conflict that would eventually lead to the cross. But it was also going to be a challenge for his own followers after the resurrection. As the early Jewish Christians took the gospel into predominantly Gentile lands - people and societies that were regarded as unclean - what were the implications of the gospel? Was it acceptable to have fellowship with people who had been thought of as unclean sinners? Matters as basic as whether you could go into a gentile home or eat a meal with them, threatened to tear the early church apart almost before it had begun. In the Guardian, there's a column called "Dine across the Divide" where people with very different views have a meal together. Well the early church asked, could they "Dine across the religious divide"? Or indeed - was there really a divide at all? Some of the most important passages in the book of Acts and the letters of St Paul are about this issue. And it was only because, led by the Spirit, the early church answered that question with a "yes" that the gospel spread and we are here today The whole history of our faith flows from the willingness of those first Christians to cross the line, to be in relationship with people others saw as unacceptable. It is a faith based on a Jesus who comforted the disturbed and so, inevitably, disturbed the comfortable. A faith lived out by people who didn't play it safe but to put faith into practice - stepping out, trusting that God wanted them to lead them to new places, new people, new thoughts and words and actions. But maybe that shouldn't surprise us, given that the whole Judaeo-Christian story begins with Abraham being called to leave all that he had known - his society, culture, religion, and set off on a journey into the unknown. If we read the rest of Abraham's story he doesn't come across as a bold risk-taker. So setting off into the unknown must have felt like going way beyond his comfort zone. As Bilbo Baggins said to his young nephew, "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." Stepping out of our door, crossing the line, going out of our comfort zone. These things speak of a God who is not simply there to make us feel better (though that is certainly part of it, when we need it) not simply about finding a comfortable head space in a troubled world. Rather, God calls us, challenges us, to live out the kind of love that, yes, will bless others, but that might also unwittingly disturb some people, or even provoke fear or hostility. Another way of putting this might be to tweak the words of President Kennedy: "Don't simply ask what Jesus can do for you, ask what you can do for Jesus.' Jesus does do wonderful things for us - bringing us into a deep relationship with God, from which flow forgiveness, healing, and growth, with the all the resources of his Spirit. But he does that not simply to "get us into heaven" but so that we are able to step out in faith, to go in his name, and to make a difference in the world. And that difference might be as simple as starting up a conversation with a stranger; or going to someone who seems to be in need of help. It might be standing out from the crowd by refusing to collude in slagging off of other people or groups. It might be standing up for ourselves by being politely but firmly assertive. It might be letting people know we are a Christian. It might be taking on a new role. Or doing that thing that you always meant to, but something - maybe fear - has held you back Whatever it is, it is likely to be something where there is a little voice saying go on, and another voice saying, no don't bother. Stay where you are. And lest we should think that this is a message only for someone younger than us, let me tell you about Sylvia. She was a member of our church in Edinburgh, and at the age of 95 she offered to help with our children's group. When we sent in her form for a criminal records check they sent it back saying we had made a mistake about her date of birth. As long as we live, God always calls us onwards and outwards. Whether to something small and everyday or bigger and more demanding. To sum up: Jesus said "I will be with you always" - words that offer us deep comfort and reassurance in our times of need. But he also said: "After I am raised up I will go before you" - words that call us to step out in faith, to go beyond our comfort zone and to follow where he leads. From Rev David Paton WilliamsHow do we know what God is like when we can't see God?
Well, one of the things the Bible says is that God is light. Or at least a bit like light. And light is full of colours. You can't normally see them but they are all there. They only become visible when they are reflected in something like a drop of water or a piece of glass. And then we see a rainbow. * How many colours are there in a rainbow? We usually say seven. (However Isaac Newton only found five and added orange and indigo to make seven because he wanted it to match the seven notes of the musical scale.) But there are actually an infinite number of different shades. And God, like light, is revealed in a rainbow of ways, even infinite ways, in the things & people around us in the world. In the Bible, people experienced God in the world and in their own lives. And wherever they looked they found things and people that reminded them of God in some way. Here are just some of them: Sun - the source of life Rock - dependable and strong Water - cleansing and refreshing Fire - a source of energy Cloud - mysterious and a bit scary Wind - working in unseen ways Bread - nourishing Fortress and Mother hen - protecting Dove - gentle and peaceful Lion - strong and kingly Shepherd - guiding and providing Counsellor- listening Judge - wise King - powerful Lover - desirable Mother and Father - creative and loving As the writer Philip Newell has put it: Whichever way we turn, O God, there is your face in the light of the moon and pattern of stars, in sacred mountain rifts and ancient groves, in mighty seas and creatures of the deep. Whichever way we turn, O God, there is your face, in the light of eyes we love, in the salt tears we have tasted, in weathered countenances east and west, in the soft skin glow of the child everywhere. Whichever way we turn, O God, there is your face, there is your face among us. In Christianity the whole world is what we call a sacrament - it is a visible sign of the invisible God. So everything and everyone can reveal something of God. But since the time of Jesus, Christians have focussed on three particular ways of speaking about God: as Father, Son, and Spirit. Again this is a bit like light. Although white light can break up into millions of different colours, it is actually made up from three primary colours - red, blue and green. * And from those three intersecting colours come all the other colours. And that's one way that early Christians pictured God as Trinity as three intersecting circles * One God with three aspects - three colours if you like. Father Son and Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, Friend * And seeing God as Trinity helps us to see God in so many other ways. Because God is the Creator/Father/Mother we can see something of God in all the wonders of nature - rocks, wind, clouds, fire, the plants and animals, the stars And because God has come to us in Jesus, the Son, we can find God in other people - whether they are shepherds, or counsellors, judges, lovers and strangers - friends and family. And that's why we have our rainbow cross - to remind us that God shines in all people, however different they may be, and so we want to be an inclusive community. And because God has come to us as Spirit, we find God in our everyday lives - in love and joy and peace, - in courage and strength to get through the hard times, - in those little inner nudges that guide us or the prayers that are answered. So like light, God is three in one. And like light, God can be called by lots of different names. because God shines through an infinite number of things. helping us to know God, even if we can't see God. Dear Friends
Back in the 70s, Slade sang the hit "I wish it could be Christmas everyday". I guess that I am not alone in breathing a sigh of relief that their wish didn't come true - the bank account and the nerves couldn't stand it if it kept on going! The whole point about feasts and festivals is that they are one off days, to celebrate something special. However special days in the church calendar do sometimes kick off, or bring to an end, a whole season - a time when we unpack the meaning of some aspect of our faith on a deeper level than would be possible if we only observed a single day. This year, as we enter June, we also come to the end of the Easter season, which culminated at Pentecost. We now journey through what the church calls "ordinary time". Although that might sound a bit flat after the highs of Easter, it is actually a very important time of the year. The colour for the season is green, which is very appropriate given that it runs from late spring, right through the summer until autumn. At this time of year, the natural world is a riot of greens - evidence of all the growth that plants are busy with. While in the spiritual realm, this season reminds us that the Christian life is not all about the peaks (or the troughs) but about slow and steady growth. It is about living faithfully day by day: putting faith into practice one prayer at a time, one decision at a time, one deed or word at a time. Of course it is lovely to have "high days" and I hope that our shared worship provides that on a regular basis: a time when we can feel connected to God and to each other; when we can be recharged, encouraged, challenged or comforted in our faith. However, that is not where (as the saying goes) "the rubber hits the road". That happens in the very ordinary things of life. And that leads to another significance of "ordinary time". In George Herbert's poem "Prayer", he wrote of "heaven in ordinary". It is wonderful phrase, capturing the sense Christians have of God taking flesh in Jesus, entering the stuff of our human nature and sharing the lives of ordinary human being. It also speaks to our belief that God's Spirit of life and love is present in every place, every moment, every experience. Which means that heaven can be found in the ordinariness of life. The secular is sacred. The whole of life can be a meeting place with God. So as summer approaches, I hope you have a very ordinary - yet very special - season. David |
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